 "Photo: Nicole Lewis /Staff Photographer")
 "Photo: Nicole Lewis /Staff Photographer")
Do not be surprised if you come across a puppy the next time you hop on the EE bus or walk into class. These pooches are not here to learn the ins and outs of psychology 101, but they are part of the Cook College Seeing-Eye Club, a student-run organization that aims to socially acclimate puppies to be the "eyes" of the blind.
Club President Shannon Bradley, a Cook College senior said raising puppies "is a lot of work. It's a lot like having a baby."
The most important goal is to socialize the puppies, Bradley said. "A college campus is a great place for this to happen."
The Seeing-Eye Club is a subdivision of The Seeing-Eye Inc. of Morristown. Seeing-Eye Inc. is an organization that sends puppies to various locations in the state in an attempt to familiarize intended seeing-eye dogs with people. Members receive seven to eight week-old puppies and are responsible for them for one year. Participants, called "raisers," take the dogs with them to class, on buses and wherever else their daily schedules require.
"It's rough," Cook College junior and animal science major Jaime Heddinger said. "It is a constant learning experience, one after another. I have grown up with dogs my whole life, but I never had a puppy. Working with a puppy takes a lot of patience and dedication. We have to teach them the basics. The training aspect is difficult. But once they learn, it's great because then you can take them out and educate others about the program."
"Applicants must attend numerous meetings before they can even apply to take a dog," Bradley said. "They meet with the executive board to make sure they fully understand what they are getting themselves into and are evaluated." Most applicants are introduced to the program by "Puppy-Sitting," she said.
Puppy educators instruct potential raisers in the basics of canine obedience at meetings. Bradley said many potential raisers are not prior dog owners and have never been responsible for puppies.
When the puppies reach 14-15 months of age, the dogs are sent back to Seeing-Eye, Inc., where they are evaluated and x-rayed to ensure they have developed properly. If the puppies are healthy, they spend four months with a trainer. After the puppies are professionally trained they graduate and are matched up with a blind person. Their potential owners fill out questionnaires so they can be paired up with a dog that has a personality compatible with their own. After the selection is made, the puppy and its new best friend actually live at Seeing-Eye, Inc. for a month so that both adapt to each other in a supervised environment.
The raisers then have the opportunity to observe their former puppies in the Town-Walk, a showcase event. From a distance, they can view the progress of the puppies they helped to acclimate to society.
"It is amazing to see how they have grown after being professionally trained. For example, I witnessed a former puppy of 'The Seeing Eye Club' blatantly avoid a gravel path and lead its trainer to a concrete surface instead," Bradley said. "The dog intuitively knew that concrete would be safer for a blind person ... than gravel."
Bradley said it could become difficult to separate from the puppies, "especially from your first one, you never forget your first one. Once the dogs are placed with blind people, all ties are cut with the raiser."
Bradley said she grew up around dogs, and plans to be a veterinarian. "Being in the dorms freshman year made me miss the companionship of a dog. So when I saw participants of the program, it made me interested."
Alexandra Dashkevic, Cook College junior said, "I became interested in the program after seeing a flier and hearing someone speak about it in a animal science class. I never had a dog before, so it was great to help raise one and to do something awesome in return."
Larry Katz, an associate professor of animal science, is one of the club's advisors. He provides infrastructure support and ensures meeting spaces are available to the club. "I am really thrilled that students take on this role. It is a very difficult one, because you have to eventually give them up. I do not think I could do it," he said.
"I feel that people are curious. If nothing else, they just wonder why there are dogs walking around campus," Bradley said. "They wonder why there is a dog in class or in the campus center. I feel that Cook [College] has been very open and receptive. The dogs are allowed on Rutgers buses, in classes when professors comply, and in the Newell and Starkey Apartments. Cook [College] has a lot of students who love animals. Each year the club has grown, and I hope that continues."
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