5 students graduate guide-dogs-to-be

Five Salt Lake high school students were all tears and smiles Saturday as they said goodbye to their canine companions of the past year — the initial graduates of a first-ever program matching student trainers with future guide dogs for the blind.

Martine Savageau, a longtime guide dog training volunteer and Salt Lake School District teacher, conceived of the idea as a natural match for classes she teaches at the district's Career Technical Center.

"Being a training leader for Guide Dogs for the Blind and a schoolteacher ... I thought incorporating the two things would be a great idea," Savageau said. "I got wonderful support for the idea from my administration and from the state ... and we just did it."

A class Savageau teaches on companion animals became the requisite preparation course for students interested in getting involved with guide dog training. Students from all three Salt Lake high schools — East, West and Highland — attend classes at the center. In addition to preparing the students for the responsibility of raising a companion animal, the class also gives Savageau a chance to spot the students who are truly ready for the challenge.

"It helps me decide who will be appropriate and ready to be part of the program," Savageau said. "It is as big a responsibility as being a parent ... not every student is of the caliber to be a student and a guide dog parent."

Last fall, students began their training program with puppies aged about 5 months. The purpose of this segment of guide dog preparation is discipline and socialization. Each of the student trainers follows a program, outlined by the Guide Dogs for the Blind group, to teach the puppies to follow commands and acclimate to real-life situations. The dogs, and their trainers, live a regimented life, adhering to strict schedules and rules regarding conduct in the home and out in the world. All of the tasks and goals of the student training are geared toward making the dogs ready for the next phase of education where they will learn how to function as a guide for a blind companion.

Robert Tate graduated from West High last week and is one of Savageau's students who had the right combination of desire and commitment to take part in the program. On Saturday, he was both sad about saying goodbye to his companion, Fairmont, and brimming with satisfaction about his time as a trainer.

"Take your happiest memory and stretch it over a year ... then multiply it by a thousand," Tate said. "That's been my experience with Fairmont."

Tate said there were numerous challenges that came along with his responsibilities to the training program, including some initial apprehension on the part of his parents.