Pilot Club may sponsor guide dog

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July 15, 2006

John Oxford The Moultrie Observer Sat Jul 15, 2006, 10:34 PM EDT

MOULTRIE — A sightless woman offered encouragement last week to the Pilot Club of Moultrie’s plan to sponsor a guide dog for a blind person.

Deidri Cumbie, a Southeastern Guide Dogs advisory council member, sang the praises of her dog, Eddie.

“You can’t get lost with these dogs,” Cumbie said. “He made such a huge difference in my life. It’s being able to do the little things that mean so much to me.”

The Pilot Club plans to sponsor a guide dog through the Paws For Patriots program to get guide dogs to blinded veterans of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Projects coordinator Cherie Searcy said the club will sponsor a puppy for the first year of his life as it begins the training process to become a guide dog. The club chose this project because it is the signature program of the club’s president.

The club has not yet been able to find a local veteran to receive the dog once it is trained, but Searcy said they hope to do so. If a local veteran cannot be found, the club will go through Southeastern Guide Dogs to find a veteran from elsewhere.

There have been 30 veterans identified by Paws For Patriots across the country needing a guide dog, Cumbie said. One veteran was given a dog because of vision loss, and another veteran received a dog to help with his mobility.

A guide dog is matched according to a person’s needs, and Cumbie said Southeastern Guide Dogs tries to find the best match when a person applies. The dogs themselves are trained for four to six months in a harness and are taught socialization skills needed to allow the handler to live a normal life, such as going into restaurants.

Cumbie, a resident of Powder Springs, told the Pilot Club members she went blind 15 years ago when her optic nerve was damaged by swelling following a brain tumor operation. She went through a rehabilitation program to do virtually any activity she did before losing her sight, and she was told she was a candidate for a guide dog.

She applied to Southeastern Guide Dogs in Palmetto, Fla., and was accepted. Sponsored by the Lions Club of Powder Springs, she went to Palmetto to get and train with a dog. On Memorial Day 2003, she got Eddie, her guide dog, and fell in love with him as he ran straight to her.

“He stole my heart that day and has taken a piece of it ever since,” Cumbie said.

Eddie made an immediate impression the first day of their 26-day training program, Cumbie said. He stopped her from hitting an overhang as they walked, and he kept her from hitting a van mirror. He also found the handicapped stall in a mall restroom.

“He’ll still amaze me,” Cumbie said. “He’s not trained to do some of the things he does for me. They do it because they want you to love them as much as they love you.”

When asked how someone should approach a dog handler, Cumbie said to pretend the dog is not there and approach the person on the left side, unless the handler is left-handed. The dog should also never be touched, as it may distract them and keep them from doing their guide duty.

Anyone who would like to assist the Pilot Club of Moultrie or Paws for Patriots can do so, Searcy said. The training program has various levels of sponsorship, providing a puppy with vaccinations, food, a harness and leash or medical care.

Southeastern Guide Dogs is also looking for puppy trainers, and Searcy said more information can be found at their Web site, www.guidedogs.org.

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