Seeing Eye puppies train at Newark
Airport
By Nyier Abdou/The Star-Ledger
March 20, 2010, 4:48PM
Robert Sciarrino/The Star-LedgerA
group of handlers from the Seeing Eye leads their guide dog
puppies through Terminal C at Newark Liberty International
Airport during a training exercise. Some 150 handlers and more
than 80 dogs took part in the field trip to familiarize the dogs
with an airport environment.
NEWARK — Piper, an impetuous and frisky half-chocolate,
half-golden lab, stood at fidgety attention on the tarmac at
Newark Liberty International Airport with more than 80 other
puppies and their handlers when the sirens and hoses of two
waiting fire trucks were suddenly turned on.
The blaring noise startled Piper,
prompting her handler to pull her aside. "Don’t baby her,"
another handler warned.
As the other dogs circled the
trucks, Paula Torcicollo gave Piper an affectionate pat. "She’s
the only flunkie," she joked. "We still love her."
The canine cavort to one of the
nation’s busiest airports was part of a training trip for dogs
destined to be paired with blind and visually impaired owners.
Part of the training for the dogs is acclimatizing them to loud
noises in emergency situations.
"It’s chaos, but it’s exciting,"
said Torcicollo, of Westfield, who is taking part in the
program, run by The Seeing Eye in Morristown, for the first
time.
The field trip to Newark Airport
gathered Seeing Eye puppy raising clubs from northern and
central New Jersey to expose the dogs to an airport environment.
"This is actually a pretty hard
environment for a dog," said Rivi Israel, 28, of Bridgewater, a
trainer at The Seeing Eye who is caring for her family’s 21st
Seeing Eye puppy, Jason. "It’s great exposure and experience for
the dogs — people, slippery floors, luggage containers."
But in an airport where some 35
million people come through every year, there’s a lot to be
gained by airport staff as well.
"You’re dealing with every aspect of
life and every aspect of what people have to cope with," said
Newark Airport general manager John Jacobi as dozens of
pint-sized pups and their handlers lined up at the security gate
before boarding a plane. "The more we’re aware of that and
understand it from the other side, the better we can do our
job."
Most people who care for a Seeing
Eye puppy get hooked. Janet Keeler, a retired NJ Transit
investigator who leads the Essex County Puppy Club, started
nearly 30 years ago with a black lab named Helsa for her shy
11-year-old daughter.
"It seemed like something that would
bring her our of her shell," said Keeler, 71, of Irvington. "And
it worked."
Since Helsa, Keeler has raised 49
guide dogs. Yesterday, she walked Zara, a six-month-old German
shepherd clad in her telltale green Seeing Eye handkerchief,
around the baggage carousel at Terminal C.
"It’s really rewarding," said Emily
D’Alessandro, 18, of North Brunswick, who is raising her third
guide dog, Quote, an 8-month-old black lab who rested her head
between her paws as D’Alessandro and her mother rode the bus
with the rest of their club, the 4-H Middlesex County Puppy
Pals. "It’s really cool to see them paired up with someone. It
changes their life."
Once the dogs are ready for
training, they return to The Seeing Eye for intensive training.
Every handler will admit that’s the hardest part.
"You know in 15 or 16 months you’re
going to have to say goodbye," said Roger Woodhour, 67, of
Woodcliff Lake, who is raising his 26th guide dog, Dusty. "Big
people do cry."
"It’s horrible," said Marie
Lockhart, 60, who leads the 4-H Middlesex County Puppy Pals. Her
face visibly fell just at the thought of it. "You go through
puppy deprivation — then you get another one."
Former handlers are allowed to
attend the dog’s "graduation," but from a distance, so the dogs
don’t see them and get confused.
"It was hard," D’Alessandro
recalled. "I just wanted to hug her."
But later, the teen received a
heart-warming letter from the dog’s new owner, a New York City
professor. "He said it was like getting a new set of eyes."