Hunter (the Lab) and Jon Sperling Were Our Guests
Mary Silverberg does a great job of finding speakers of interest for our club. So many of them leave us with an impression of how many people are doing good in the world and how each bit of effort adds to the greater good. Today was no exception. And we learned a lot about guide dogs.
Jon Sperling is a trainer for South Eastern Guide Dogs, based in Florida. As it turns out, South Eastern Guide Dogs is a the name of a school for these helpers, as is Fidelco, and Seeing Eye Dogs. The reason that Jon like his organization is that they offer different 'career paths' for the dogs. Not every dog is cut out to be a guide dog: some become detection dogs (not only drugs, but lobsters!), arson dogs, and companion dogs. One of SouthEastern's greatest strengths is the training to help veterans with PTSD. These dogs can detect when their owner is having a bad dream, or a flashback, or just needs a hug. Some of them will sit on the back of the veteran and knead it (really).
Jon made a note to us all to check out the SE Guide Dog website https://www.guidedogs.org/ as many of these stories will have you sobbing when you realize how much difference that a companion can make in someone's life. thank you Jon Sperling and thank you Hunter!