Duane Hicks
Life has gotten a little easier for Wayne Lundstrom since he met “Sammy.”
Lundstrom returned to Fort Frances on Friday after graduating as valedictorian of his class at the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides training facility in Oakville, Ont., bringing with him the two-year-old black Labrador retriever which has been specially-trained to help the vision-impaired man lead a safer, better life.
Lundstrom said “Sammy” will be a great benefit to him, helping him live independently and serving as a companion.
While he will continue to use his white cane, Lundstrom said “Sammy” enables him to walk faster because she can detect obstacles and traffic for Lundstrom to safely make his way around town.
“When I didn’t have the dog, I used my cane all the time to find holes in the sidewalk, because the sidewalks are full of holes here, and I wouldn’t be able to walk as fast,” Lundstrom explained.
“The cane slows me down. The pace is quick with the dog,” he noted.
“She can see traffic while the cane doesn’t help me much with the traffic,” he added. “She can see the traffic, hear the traffic—so there’s a difference.
“So the dog brings you up another level.”
“Sammy” has been trained to find curbs, follow directions (like stopping or going left or right), stop at traffic lights, and follow commands like “sit,” “wait,” and “down.”
She can navigate streets and buildings, and can climb stairs and ride escalators, telling Lundstrom when to step off.
As part of their training together, Lundstrom and “Sammy” had to make their way through an airport, as well as ride a subway train and a city bus. And the dog accompanied him on the airplane on his flight home.
“Sammy” has undergone “food refusal training.” She has learned only to eat food Lundstrom gives to her, and not any old food she finds outside or around other people.
She also knows what to do when she hears a fire alarm.
“Sammy” can go to the bathroom on command, and will get into her special harness she wears when going outside for a walk.
Guide dogs sometimes are called “working dogs,” and the term couldn’t be more apt. Lundstrom explained that “Sammy” wears a “working” collar and a “play” collar—and knows when she is on or off duty depending on which one she is wearing.
For example, when she is on duty, she keeps her focus on Lundstrom and her surroundings, and is not to be petted. But when she is off the job, she plays and behaves like a normal, albeit well-behaved, dog.
While she may nap now and then throughout the day, ”Sammy” will come and tell Lundstrom when she wants to go to sleep for the night because as long as he’s awake, she must remain alert and ready to work.
“Sammy” also has been tagged with a microchip so she can be located if she ever got lost.
Another way in which “Sammy” differs from a pet dog is she is property of the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides. She has been trained since she was only seven weeks old, and in nine years once she turns 11, she will retire and return to the Foundation.
At that time, Lundstrom will go back to the school and train with another suitable canine companion, he explained, noting he’s aware of one 80-year-old woman who has had four dog guides in her lifetime.
Since she is the Foundation’s property, Lundstrom also is required to follow strict rules regarding her care. “Sammy” only must eat certain food at scheduled times in specific quantities and must stay within five pounds of her current weight.
Lundstrom also must groom her, brush her teeth, and make sure she sees the veterinarian regularly. Also, if it’s too cold for her to go out for a walk, he has to play with her indoors and keep her exercised.
If she goes for a ride in a vehicle, “Sammy” must be strapped in and secure.
And if something were to happen to Lundstrom, where he had to be hospitalized, for example, “Sammy” would stay with an appointed “custodian family.”
That said, there’s not too many places dog guides aren’t allowed to go these days. For instance, they are allowed to ride in ambulances, can access most parts of hospitals, and go to the dentist’s office, although they must stay at the front desk.
The process to get a dog guide is fairly in-depth and sometimes can take several years. The client first must apply to the Foundation, which Lundstrom said was made easier with the encouragement of the Fort Frances Voyageur Lions Club.
Lion Val Martindale said the local club was “thrilled to bits” that Lundstrom passed his course with flying colours and now is benefitting from “Sammy.
“It is wonderful because our ‘Walk for Dog Guides’ in the spring goes to the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides,” noted Martindale, who personally has visited the training school in Oakville.
“We’re thrilled to think someone from our community has benefitted from that,” she added.
“It’s a wonderful institution, and we encourage all Lions to support it and we’re encouraging all people to support it through our walk.”
While it is common for the Foundation to visit the client and see what their daily life entails as part of the assessment, Lundstrom said they weren’t able to make it up here.
Instead, he was helped out by Jim Hudson, who shot a video of Lundstrom walking around town—demonstrating the pace at which he normally walks and his daily routine—to send to them in Oakville.
The applicant’s information then is reviewed during the selection process. If they are selected to attend the course, the Foundation then matches up the client with a dog that is suitable for them, based on criteria such as the person’s height, size of home, and ability to get around.
When a match is found, the client attends the training school in Oakville, where they meet their dog and undergo a three-week course (which covers everything from communication to taking the dog to various places to proper grooming and diet).
After which time, they may or may not graduate, depending on how they do.
While the dogs and clients are matched up, Lundstrom said he and “Sammy” still are new to each other. And while they have bonded, it will take six months to a year for dog guides to become familiar with their surroundings and learn its new client’s daily routines, such as what routes to take to get to the post office, etc.
As for the dog guide school, Lundstrom said the facility was excellent, with helpful staff who were on duty around the clock to help those who may have any problems with their newly-acquainted working dogs or their unfamiliar surroundings during the course of their stay.
He noted that if a client needed to improve in a certain area, the trainers would talk to them one-on-one, away from the class, to avoid potential embarrassment.
And clients who attended the school were given keys and allowed to come and go with their dogs, as long as staff knew they were in or out of the school.
“You felt like family,” Lundstrom said of his stay.
Lundstrom said he was impressed not only with what vision dogs can do, but with all of the other kinds of dog guides trained at the school.
For example, they train hearing ear dog guides, which respond to sounds for deaf clients and follow hand signals, or special skills dog guides that can open and close doors, operate light switches, and retrieve dropped items.
Still others are seizure response dog guides, which bark for help and are able to activate an alert system if their clients have a seizure.
Autism assistance dog guides help calm autistic children in high-anxiety situations and reduce stress they experience in public places.
Martindale said the Oakville school is the largest dog guide training facility in Canada. It has its own breeding facility, and it is expanding so it can service more clients.
“In the 25 years it has been a school, it has grown by leaps and bounds,” she noted.
As mentioned above, the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides is supported each May by the Purina Walk for Dog Guides dog walk fundraiser here in Fort Frances, as well as across Canada.
Lundstrom said he’d like to lead this year’s walk (May 30) to let people know that their donations help out people like him, and possibly in the future, other locals who could benefit from having a dog guide.
