Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-03-11

wiz has n bll
German shepherd named Butch
Aimee Reno of Charlotte, who has
q small one named Tiny, anc
James Fuller of Detroit, who ha:
a middle-sized one named libby
The dogs already are trained
This takes minimum OF three
months, sometimes more. The
trainers teach the dogs what tc
do, then blinfold themselves and
make the dogs lead them up and
down stairs and through traffic
Then the sightfess masters come
10 the farm for a month 10 learn
how TO use the dogs.
Each dog has a report card. He
Is marked from one 10 five IN
each of Is subjects, including will
ingness, responsibility, traffic. and
obeying orders such as come. sit.
heel. fetch. down. forward, and so
on. He has 10 get 65 of a possible
|. IS grade before he is graduated.
Two out of 10 dogs funk.
One OF these days soon Tiny.
libby and Butch will bring their
masters to Detroit to practice rid
ing street cars. That will finish
their schoolwork.
The day / was there il was
rainy and sloppy, and the streets
were full of slush. so they did
their practicing in the town Of
Rochester instead of going TO Pom
tiac. Pontiac traffic. by the way
Is more difficult 10 walk through
than Detroit's. Detroit's is better
regulated. the blind men say.
The instructors al the Leader
League are Fred Maynard. the
trainer. who learned this work at
the Seeing Eye School in New
Jersey. and Carson Upthegrove Of
Rochester. VINO lis learning from
Maynard. II takes as long as a
college course. four years. 10 learn
10 train guide dogs
Part OF this course includes be-
coming temporarily "blind" for a
month. For 30 days the instructor
puts on a blindfold as soon as he
wakes up. and leaves II on until be
Is back in bed at night. A monyh
OF that and he knows how the
blind feel. He washes. ShaveS,
dresses. eats. does everything with
the blindfold on. Shaving is fairly
easy. and eating is very hard
They never strike these dogs.
Inc word "pfui'' in a Disguised.
angry tone makes the dogs
ashamed Of themselves. and is all
The punishment needed. "Pfui" is
German for shape on YOU" a
holdover from the Germans who
first trained SUCH dogs after the
last war
Every time a dog does some
|thing right. his master should say,
'"Good boy" or good girl.
Maynard says this is the same 10
a dog as the weekly paycheck is
10 us. If you forget 10 say IL for a
week or so, some dogs will feel
cheated. and Will refuse to work.
The standing joke of the training
farm is Juno When a new blind
man arrives. ne learns the rudi-
nents by being guided by a,
leather harness held by Maynard
instead of worn by dog. The
blind man has 10 issue orders 10
Maynard just as though he were
q dog.
Many of them feel silly walking
down the street saying TO Maynard
Forward. Juno. Left. Juno. Good
girl, Juno Juno is the name
they always use for this training.
and people around Rochester are
used 10 il. 4
They gave me a blindfold and
let Buck. the dog owned by Harold
Warman of Detroit. lead me. We
got along beautifully because Buck
was smart enough 10 handle even
me. Some dogs, however, wouldn't
lead stranger.
lney nave special dominoeS,
Braille playing cards and touch
system checkers out there Blind
people are SO good at cards that
We've had the pants trimmed off
ms lots of times. Maynard says.
The only thing they lack is dogs
1.-The army is taking so many that
they are running short. They even
nave an Arctic malemut out there.
but they prefer German shepherds
or BANKERS. Can you spare one?
And they have books" too. The
American Foundation for the Blind
lends them electric monographs, /
land the Library of Congress lends |
them. free. books that have been
put into sound-"Gone with the
Wind has 36 records of - min
utes to a side. but the story that /
was on fhe machine tho other day