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((INTRO))
[[Deborah Wydra is a dedicated service dog trainer who has been doing it since her high school days. VOA caught up with her recently while she was working with Guiding Eyes for the Blind to prepare their puppy, Ike, for his formal training. VOA’s Faiza Elmasry brings us the story from Oakton, Virginia.]]
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/ScriptCONNECT Service Companion (TV)
HEADLINE: Training Puppy for Service with Guiding Eyes
TEASER: Dog trainer helps shape puppies into life-changing service dogs
PUBLISHED AT: 08/07/2023
BYLINE: Faiza Elmasry
DATELINE: Oakton, Virginia
VIDEOGRAPHER: Lisa Vohra
PRODUCER: Lisa Vohra, Zdenko Novacki
COURTESIES:
SCRIPT EDITORS: AK, MJ
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:58
VID APPROVED BY: AK, MJ
TYPE: VPKGF
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((Eds: This is a self-narrated feature.))
((INTRO))
[[Deborah Wydra is a dedicated service dog trainer who has been doing it since her high school days. VOA caught up with her recently while she was working with Guiding Eyes for the Blind to prepare their puppy, Ike, for his formal training. VOA’s Faiza Elmasry brings us the story from Oakton, Virginia.]]
((NATS: Deborah Wydra))
Hello there, sir. How are you?
((Deborah Wydra, Teacher & Dog Raiser, Guiding Eyes for the Blind))
I'm Deb Wydra, and I teach English at Chantilly High School, and I'm also a puppy raiser for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Our job as raisers is to start with them in about three months old, somewhere in that area, and gradually increase the time and duration that we expose that puppy to really intense experiences in society. So, that's why coming into a school, which is what I do with my puppies, can be really intense. That's a lot of dynamic. It's a lot of people in a small space. It's a lot of noise. It's fire drills. It's just all of the things that create a great list of experiences for a guide dog that will need to go out someday and not be rattled by an emergency vehicle going by or someone touching them or someone stepping on them. So, they learn all of that as they go through that year of training.
((Deborah Wydra, Teacher & Guiding Eyes for the Blind))
The students really love when I bring Ike in. Ike does bring an element of calm to the room, sometimes a little bit of fun. Many times, I will say, they don't even know he's there. He's next to me. He's very quiet. All the dogs I raise, they’re usually very quiet. They can lie down for the whole school day, which is what they'll probably do with a
guide dog user someday. They'll just go to work and they'll be under a desk and it'll be very quiet for most of the day.
((Deborah Wydra, Teacher & Guiding Eyes for the Blind))
I grew up around dogs and spent a lot of time with dogs and we would take them backpacking. They came everywhere with us. And when I was in school in California, one of my classmate’s mother was blind. And that got me interested in the world of service dogs and the service dog I introduced to her. And she didn't realize that service dogs are free. And right after that, she got her first guide dog. And I realized what an amazing feat of independence having one of these dogs is.
((Deborah Wydra, Teacher & Guiding Eyes for the Blind))
So today, we are driving a van up to Guiding Eyes. My husband is cleared to drive the van, so we’re driving a big van up I-95 [Interstate 95] that says Guiding Eyes for the Blind on the side. What we’ll be doing is dropping Ike and another puppy off at the training center.
((NATS))
You ready to get busy one more time?
((Deborah Wydra, Teacher & Guiding Eyes for the Blind))
Today’s his last day, so we’ll be saying goodbye to him when we drop him off at Guiding Eyes. That’s a good boy.
It is a very, very emotional experience, and you know that this animal you've spent so much time with is going to do something really great for another person. So yeah, sorry about that. Get emotional.
((NATS))
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