Introducing Dave

Dave moved in last February. He doesn’t know this, but he is a dog. A big very light-colored yellow lab with long floppy ears, a nose that brings him the world, and a heart as big as Texas. He thinks he is a little puppy and likes nothing better than to climb into my lap, put his front paws on my shoulders, and lick my face. Given the space and the opportunity, he’ll bring up the back feet as well and stretch out with me in the recliner. Nobody told him he weighs 70 pounds or so and is long past being a lap puppy.

It should be noted here that Dave is a highly educated, well-performing working dog bred and trained by The Seeing Eye to guide me. When his harness is on, he’s ready to join me in whatever project we have at the moment. Whether that’s racing through an airport to catch a flight, climbing a rough path in a national park, navigating city streets, or just listening to the birds as we stroll down a country lane on our morning walk, he’s all for it.  

When people see Dave and me out in public, walking down the sidewalk, navigating a store, or hanging around a coffee shop, they inevitably ask “What’s your dog’s name?” When I tell them his name is Dave, they laugh. They’re not used to Dave as a dog’s name. Dave is used to it, though. He came with it and comes to it. It’s his name. He and all his littermates were born at The Seeing Eye’s breeding facility, and they all have names that start with D. The next litter to be born at the breeding station got names starting with E. There are even X and Z litters that must strain the creativity of the people in charge of naming!

He came home with me after a three-week stay at The Seeing Eye in New Jersey, and instantly filled that empty dog-shaped space left behind by Jimi, my four-legged partner for ten years. Dave’s life history, like all Seeing Eye dogs, starts with careful breeding to maximize his chances of success as a guide for a blind person. He spent a couple months with his mother and litter mates in a highly professional and stimulating environment before moving to the puppy raisers for the next year and a half or so. There he learned good household manners, got lots of interaction with people, and went to work with his folks. When he was a little over two years old, he moved from the puppy raisers’ home to the kennels at The Seeing Eye where he worked with trainers five days a week to learn his job responsibilities. Those include guiding his person around obstacles, stopping at steps, streets, etc., finding doors, navigating crowds, riding escalators, judging and navigating traffic, riding on trains, planes and busses, and generally keeping his person safe and getting where she wants to go. His job also includes lying quietly beneath restaurant tables, church pews and theater seats for what must seem like hours to him.

He responds to commands like forward, right, left, outside, inside and others I will teach him like stairs and elevator. He already knew things like come, sit, rest, and place.

Dave has a set of commands of his own. Feed me, take me out, play with me, let me hug you, and get up you lazybones, don’t you know it’s morning? And so, the conversation goes.

Photo by Author