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 Karen Black walks Omaha on Main Street in Wakefield.
By TRAVIS ROBERTS SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Her name is Omaha. You might have seen the cheerful lab walking down Main Street wearing a blue blanket that says “seeing eye dog in training.”
The woman you might have seen walking Omaha is Karen Black of Kingston. A part time nurse at South County Hospital, Black is also a volunteer with Guiding Eyes for the Blind where she helps to train seeing eye dogs. “What they do is look for people willing to take a puppy and raise it until it’s 15-18 months old. We have to housebreak them, teach them good manners and socialize them,” said Black from the Narragansett Times office while taking a break from walking Omaha. As the gentle golden lab settled down on the floor beside her, Black explained that coming into the office was even part of Omaha’s training. “They need a dog with confidence, who’s not afraid to walk into buildings and see new people. Part of her training is coming into places like this.” Guiding Eyes for the Blind is a non-profit organization based out of Yorktown Heights, NY, that provides seeing eye dogs throughout the entire northeast. The organization not only provides training for seeing eye dogs themselves, but for people such as Black who want to help raise the dogs. It also has regional chapters so it can get dogs to a variety of locations for training. “We work with a group out of eastern Connecticut in Ledyard. It’s run by [volunteers] Jim and Val Hazlin.” “Every three months the dog gets evaluated and a main trainer comes out to give you tips. It’s almost like we’re being trained to.” |
