Lauren and her teenage son Zander rolled up in their car beside Vito and I. Lauren lowered her window. Zander was on the phone to get directions to his soccer game. It appeared they ran late.
“Is that Vito?” asked Lauren. “Finally, we get to meet.”
I glanced at Zander. He politely smiled, but I detected a hint of strain because he knew his mother became pure mush at the sight of a puppy.
“Peek in the back,” she said. Zander’s head fell to the headrest.
Snug between the front and back seats stood a baby yellow Labrador retriever. He looked up. His warm eyes said, “Let’s be friends.”
“He’s another Leader Dog,” said Lauren, beaming at the puppy behind her. “We just picked him up.”
“Did you already give up Steven?” I asked. Steven was a black lab, and the Leader Dog they had been raising. I knew it was getting time for him to go back to Rochester, the headquarters for Leader Dogs for the Blind.
“We have Steven for another week,” she said.
“Do you still have Charlie too?” Charlie, a whippet, was their family dog and getting on in years.
“Yes, right now we have three dogs.”
“Ay-yi-yi!” I said like Ricky Ricardo.
By now, poor Zander looked out his window as he tried to find his inner Zen in the midst of these two dog-crazy moms.
I motioned to Lauren that she better get moving, As she took off, I yelled, “What’s this dog’s name?”
“Andy,” she hollered out the window.
Lauren works full time, has a husband, three children, and three dogs, named Steven, Charlie and Andy.
Ay-yi-yi!
A few days later, Vito and I spotted commotion in front of Laurie’s house. Laurie (who is a different person than Lauren) also raises a Leader Dog named Rocky, which is a black lab like Steven. Laurie’s teenage son Ross and Lauren’s son Zander are buddies.
In the front yard with Laurie, Ross and Rocky was Lauren, Zander, and friend April, along with dogs Steven, Charlie and Andy.
They asked Vito and I to join the party. Vito and puppy Andy were the same size, and they bonded immediately. They tugged at each other’s ears and pinned one another to the ground like kids on the same junior varsity wrestling team.
Black labs Steven and Rocky were the varsity boys. The black Labs rolled on the grass like a giant bowling ball, and we all jumped out of their way like the bowling pins.
Charlie, the old dog in the crowd, was smart enough not to throw himself in with the young bucks. He watched from safely across the street.
Between the rambunctious dogs and kids, and the laughing mothers, it was quite a sight. Neighbors honked, smiled, and gave us the thumbs up as they drove past. I thought we might have to pull the nice police officer from down the street away from his dinner table to direct traffic flow.
The gathering turned into a bon voyage for Steven. He was to leave Lauren’s family the next day and head back to Rochester to begin formal training as a Leader Dog for the Blind.
A Leader Dog family is special. These folks raise the pup in their homes, teach them house manners and basic obedience, and socialize the dog by taking him into the community on a regular basis. They play and love them unconditionally, and then when the dog reaches around a year of age, they turn him over to the professionals. Most will never again lay eyes on their beloved charge.
Lauren was worried that Zander, in particular, would miss Steven. Laurie began to tear up just thinking of what it would be like to turn over Rocky in a few short months.
It takes a lot of guts for a family to give its heart to a dog and then give the animal back. Leader Dog families sacrifice themselves for a higher cause.
That’s what makes them heroes.
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