Dedicated

That's Chris and the late, great Gilda.

The Seeing Eye is sending instructor Chris Mattoon out tomorrow to help Whitney and me. Blog readers might recognize his name: Chris came out to help me with Harper last fall, and my husband Mike Knezovich wrote a blog post about the visit. During that visit, Chris explained that Harper’s training at the Seeing Eye had included a trip or two to New York City, but that there is really no way to know for sure how a dog will react to city surroundings — or any surroundings, for that matter — or in the long term. From Mike’s post:

He also explained that although Harper didn’t start balking right after the near-miss with the car, the stresses on the dogs can be cumulative.
The three of us talked and imagined what swirled around in Harper’s head. In the end, Chris made it clear that city life had just become too much for Harper. Beth would have to get matched with a new partner.

Chris is the superstar who trained Whitney to become a Seeing Eye dog. The day he introduced her to me in New Jersey last November, he started receiving calls from home. His beloved 13-year-old canine companion was ill and getting worse. It might be time to put her down.

The Seeing Eye gave Chris time off to be with Gilda, and the five of us in his group worked with Jim Kessler, Senior Manager of Instruction and Training, while Chris was gone.

Gilda died in Chris’ arms, and Chris returned the very next morning, sounding understandably sad. I gave him a hug and wondered out loud if it might be especially hard being back at the Seeing Eye at that particular time, with all of us gushing over our brand new pups and all. Chris shrugged and said, “I can’t think of anywhere better to be right now than right here.” That’s when I decided to break the rules. I took Whitney’s harness off and let her jump up on Chris to give him a kiss. He didn’t object.

Chris worked with Whitney and me for three weeks. He knows us very well, and he is well-equipped to help us fine-tune our work together in Chicago. Curious about what we’ll be working on? Here’s an excerpt from a note I sent the Seeing Eye about specifics we need help with:

-we don’t always go all the way to the curb at the end of busy city streets, especially if she anticipates we’ll be making a turn there, she is reluctant to go to the curb (I am reluctant to admit that after my near miss with Harper last year I may be transferring a bit of fear through the harness, too) — sometimes when we *do* go all the way to the end and I point “right” or “left” and command the turn, she can’t find the crosswalk of the street we’ve turned to — when she knows where we’re going, she can be a bit overconfident, i.e., wanting to cross diagonally or veering in street since she knows we’ll be turning right or left once we get across anyway — all to say, we can be a bit sloppy at intersections — distractions (children and dogs) I correct her but she’s all discombobulated after that — plows through crowds of people rather than taking us around them — running me into people — misbehaving at pool (I swim laps every other day and she is a disaster while I swim, for a while she stayed behind the desk with staff while I swim but she still goes bonkers) this week I’ve left her at home and found a human being to escort me to the pool instead

That note makes it sound like Whitney and I are having a terrible time! Really, we’re doing very well. I just need some fine-tuning and reassurance, and I’m grateful that the Seeing Eye is sending Chris Mattoon to provide just that.

Chris’ father, Gary Mattoon, was also a Seeing Eye dog instructor. Gary started training there in 1965, so Chris grew up with the Seeing Eye. The father-and-son team worked together for years before Gary died. While I was in New Jersey Chris told me he misses his dad “each and every day” and hopes he is honoring his father’s memory by his work at the school and his dedication to the dogs he trains.

I’d say Gary would be proud.