I’ve been getting questions….
This manual is dedicated to the memory of Pax, a devoted guide dog, and to all the handler and dog teams working together across the nation. Guide dogs make it possible for their handlers to travel safely with independence, freedom and dignity.
Pax guided his handler faithfully for over ten years. Together they negotiated countless busy intersections and safely traveled the streets of many cities, large and small. His skillful guiding kept his handler from injury on more than one occasion. He accompanied his handler to business meetings, restaurants, theaters, and social functions where he conducted himself as would any highly-trained guide dog. Pax was a seasoned traveler and was the first dog to fly in the cabin of a domestic aircraft to Great Britain, a country that had previously barred service animals without extended quarantine.
Pax was born in the kennels of The Seeing Eye in the beautiful Washington Valley of New Jersey in March 2000. He lived with a puppy-raiser family for almost a year where he learned basic obedience and was exposed to the sights and sounds of community life—the same experiences he would soon face as a guide dog. He then went through four months of intensive training where he learned how to guide and ensure the safety of the person with whom he would be matched. In November 2001 he was matched with his handler and they worked as a team until Pax’s retirement in January 2012, after a long and successful career. Pax retired with his handler’s family, where he lived with two other dogs. His life was full of play, long naps, and recreational walks until his death in January 2014.
It is the sincere hope of Pax’s handler that this guide will be useful in improving the understanding about service animals, their purpose and role, their extensive training, and the rights of their handlers to travel freely and to experience the same access to employment, public accommodations, transportation, and services that others take for granted.
