‘Paw’-sitive role models benefiting disabled

Hawaii Academic vice-president Dr. Richard Myers welcomed Hawaii to St. Thomas this fall. Being trained by first-year student Emilie Turgeon, Hawaii is undergoing conditioning to assist disabled people. As stipulated by Foundation Mira, the organization for which Emilie is training Hawaii, the canine does not leave Emilie’s side; she has permission to travel anywhere her handler can go on campus.

Whether or not an old dog can learn new tricks (or vice versa), Emilie Turgeon is teaching her dog Hawaii an actual profession.

With permission from St. Thomas, Emilie is attempting to guide Hawaii’s growth from a playful puppy to an abetting canine as a seeing-eye dog for Foundation Mira. Since September, Emilie and Hawaii have been attending classes together. As students listen to lectures, Hawaii waits on the floor, learning to anticipate a command from her owner.

For approximately one year, Emilie will take Hawaii wherever she goes, instructing her to learn such tasks as leading, waiting and carrying objects.

An avid animal lover (Emilie also owns a cat, three birds and a white rat), this situation is ideal for her and her family. “I couldn’t get a regular dog because no one is ever home. But with Hawaii, I’m allowed to take her everywhere.”

Hawaii, a cross between a Burmese and Lab, is an excellent mix for a seeing-eye dog, Emilie says. “The Burmese are lazy and sleep a lot, which is good because the dogs spend a lot of the time waiting. And Labs have real energy; they get a real burst when they’re ready to go.”

This is the second dog Emilie will be raising for Foundation Mira, a group she appreciates for its “humanistic interests.” Over the past 20 years, Mira has offered more than 850 dogs to visually impaired and handicapped people at no charge. There are currently 160 families—people such as Emilie—who foster the dog, teaching manners and obedience, instructing it in both English and French, and providing daily care. “People underestimate them,” Emilie says. “They’re really a lot different than a housedog. They need to be set to go every minute of every day.”

Despite the obvious social importance of developing seeing-eye dogs, the University had to decide if any ramifications would result from bringing a dog into classrooms. “Actually, it wasn’t an easy decision,” says Vice-President (Academic) Rick Myers. “The University’s policy is to prohibit students and staff from bringing their pets on campus—and for good reason. No matter how adorable your little dog might be, there will always be people who are either allergic to, or afraid of, it. One’s instinctive reaction is to try to be accommodating, but it’s important to think through the broader implications of that kind of decision.”

Dr. Myers discussed the details with Emilie and approached her professors about the situation in September. “We recognize that Hawaii is a special case and that there are good reasons for making an exception for her,” he says. “The concern was not so much with Hawaii as with the possibility that making an exception for her would prompt other people to want to bring their dogs to St. Thomas as well. Fortunately, we haven’t yet had any problems in that respect.”

Hawaii attracts an abundance of attention on campus. Hands instinctively reach to pet her as Emilie passes people in the courtyard. Not only does Emilie not mind, but it’s great for Hawaii, she says. “It’s good they get a lot of attention when they’re young. They love it as young dogs, but then they can get it out of their system and get used to working.”

One of Emilie’s professors, Dr. Jon Rahn, chair of French/Romance Languages, says Hawaii has been progressing over the semester. “She’s improved and gotten quieter. At first she would only last 20 minutes and start to get anxious to leave, but she’s a lot better now.”

Dr. Rahn says that the particular classroom they use is fairly crowded and Hawaii could be distracting in the confined area. However, as the dog ages, she gets calmer, he says. “It’s getting better. She’s not unsettled by the crowd. And she’s good in that she doesn’t physically bother other students. There’s no pawing or begging or jumping. … [Training at a university] is a different set of conditions; there are so many things to distract it.”

Throughout the semester, Emilie has yet to encounter anyone who is extremely against the idea of a dog in the classroom. In one instance, she and another student arranged to sit at different ends of their classroom to accommodate the student’s allergies. “That was no problem,” Emilie says. “But I do have an 8:30 class and Hawaii finds it very frustrating to lay still at that time of day. She would want to leave and would sometimes bark, but I fixed that problem, too.”

Emilie’s approach to discipline is the same as most dog owners’: reinforcement through repetition. She has no professional dog training abilities—which is valuable, she explains. “I have no training; I’m just me. Mira doesn’t want professional trainers. If so, they’ll do what their masters say, no matter what. But in seeing-eye dog cases, the dog must make its own decision.”

For example, if the unknowing owner wants to cross a street under repair, the dog needs to possess the capacity to resist the command, she explains.

“I count to three, like with kids. If she doesn’t listen, I force her.” As Hawaii reaches for a discarded piece of gum, Emilie produces a three-count and then, when Hawaii continues to resist, Emilie grasps her mouth and holds it shut while she emphasizes another “No.”

“It’s different with different dogs,” she explains. “With my first dog, Whiskey, it was the intensity of the ‘no.’ With this one, it’s time, length. Something needs to be consistently repeated.”

Emilie gained an immense knowledge of dogs and dog handling with Whiskey, the first dog she trained for Mira. “The first day we picked up Whiskey [as a puppy], we stopped to eat outside at a restaurant,” Emilie says. “He started flipping out from seeing all these people. But he quickly learned to behave in malls and at scout camp with 5,000 kids around.”

During Whiskey’s training, Emilie would play games to develop his memory. She would randomly choose turns along a route, then instruct Whiskey to bring her back to her origin. With such training, Whiskey is now assisting someone in Mexico. “He is an awesome dog,” Emilie says. “He has awesome adaptation skills.”

With her former pet now having seen more of the world than her, Emilie’s interests include making a trip to Russia sometime. Currently studying cultural anthropology, psychology, French literature, French prose, and Russian at St. Thomas, the École Sainte-Anne graduate confesses she is a connoisseur of cant. “I love languages,” she says, having also taken Spanish in high school. “You can learn a lot from a person from their language.”

Emilie taught Whiskey in both French and English, and is doing the same for Hawaii. The latter dog seems to be having a slightly more difficult time, she explains. Unlike Whiskey, whom she received as a young puppy, she was given Hawaii at an older age from another family. “In seven weeks, Whiskey was pretty much trained,” she says. “But with this one”—she says, gesturing at Hawaii—“she has no concept yet that she can be in the way. And she still eats books and socks and chases my cats.” Hawaii punctuates the comments by devouring the piece of gum she has located on the underside of a table. “She loves gum,” Emilie says. “She can chew it forever.”
Despite a dog’s potential, it must receive constant shots, X-rays and examinations (to detect weak hips, for example) during its 11- to 15-month stay with the foster family. If it fails at any point, the dog’s training is negated and it is removed from the program.

With either result, Emilie will have to eventually forfeit Hawaii. Although she gets attached to her animals, she can rationalize the agreement to give away the pet she trained for so long. “Some people really need a dog to help them in their everyday life. The way I see it, they are still alive and helping people,” she says, “and that’s the easiest part of parting.”