To many of us, puppies are irresistible, and the energetic little yellow lab jumping happily at a visitor is no exception.
“No jumping,” commands Penny Gordon. “No jumping,” the Laguna Woods Village resident repeats, sternly but gently, in her role as the dog’s trainer or, specifically, puppy raiser.
Responding to his noble name, Newcastle, the little guy obeys. After all, he is in uniform: He’s wearing a green and white harness that identifies him as a guide dog for the blind in training.
When Gordon retired from nursing two years ago, she wanted to continue life in the spirit of her career.
“I still wanted to do something good for someone else in need,” she said.
After some deliberation and online research, she contacted Laguna Niguel Puppy Raisers, deciding that helping to raise puppies to be future guide dogs for the vision-impaired fit with her goal of helping others.
It wasn’t too far off a choice: David Gordon, her husband of 22 years, is blind. He has had the help of several guide dogs, and now Dewey, a calmly alert German shepherd, lies protectively at his feet.
At the same time, Dewey patiently puts up with Newcastle nuzzling his older, temporary bro.
“They are bonded already,” Penny Gordon said.
Puppy Raisers are volunteers who teach puppies basic obedience, house behavior and socialization. After Gordon contacted the Laguna Niguel branch of Puppy Raisers, the organization did research of their own, found her to be a fit foster mom and paired her with Newcastle.
“First I had to prove myself by puppy-sitting five other puppies and showing that I was patient and a good dog handler before getting Newcastle,” Gordon said. “Not having a fenced-in yard but only a patio was not a deal breaker.”
The group’s goal is to get puppies ready to graduate to Guide Dogs for the Blind, a school founded in 1942 to assist World War II veterans who had lost their sight. Today the school has two campuses, in San Raphael, California,…
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