Dog Day is the most exciting part of the guide dog journey.

For puppy raisers/walkers, it is the culmination of months of hard work and love laying the foundation for their puppy’s future mission as a guide for the blind.

For trainers, it is the bittersweet end to a four to six-month process of time-tested training.

For kennel staff and others who are the often-unseen backbone of any guide dog programme it is the tearful goodbye to the tailwagger waiting for kibble and the smiles on student faces as they heel their dogs down the hall for the first time.

And for the student, it’s the pure joy of meeting their partner for the next eight to 10 years.

But there is a process in getting to Dog Day, a blend of genetics, chemistry, questions, and good old fashion good luck in making that perfect match.

A lot goes into the matching process, and Seeing Eye, and I suspect every other guide dog programme in the world takes this very seriously.

I’m not a guide dog instructor and am not an expert in the matching process.

I can only share what I know as a long-time guide dog handler.

Each school has an application process.

You can’t just order a female golden retriever guide dog off the Internet, have it delivered to your house, and hope she works.

Dogs, like humans, have individual personalities, likes, and dislikes.

One dog might enjoy working in a fast-paced city like New York, Boston, or London, while another might be perfectly content walking to the same coffee shop daily.

Some dogs move at sonic speed, while others saunter along.

Guide dog handlers come from all walks of life, from college students, to senior citizens.

Some have had pets while others have had no experience with animals.

When a student makes an application or is interviewed by a school, they need to be honest about their lifestyle.

I can’t express enough how important this is.

Do you have sidewalks in your neighbourhood?

Do you ride buses, trains, access ride services?

What kind of work environment are you in?

Do you take long walks?

As much information as you can give a school about your lifestyle and home and work environment will make the job of finding that perfect match much easier.

I think most guide dog handlers and potential handlers have an image in their head of what dog might look best with them.

A super professional male German shepherd for the high-powered lawyer.

A petite, pretty female black Lab for the ponytailed blond college student, or the goofy golden retriever taking grandpa on his morning stroll.

It’s ok to have a breed, gender, or even colour preference, but keep an open mind.

A Labrador retriever is just as good a guide as a German shepherd, golden retriever, or cross.

I’ve never expressed a preference and all my dogs have been fantastic workers.

At the Seeing Eye and most other guide dog programmes a trainer works with a string of dogs for several months, so he or she is very familiar with the individual characteristics of each dog.

Once a possible match has been identified, a student is invited for training.

Wait times vary from programme to programme, and I’m always willing to wait for the right dog.

Most guide dog schools do what is called a Juno walk.

This might occur the first few days of class or in a student’s home area for new and even returning students.

A Juno walk is where the trainer plays the part of the dog.

The trainer holds an empty harness, and the student holds the leash and harness handle.

The trainer will try to emulate the movements of the dog while the student gives commands.

This enables the trainer to judge the handler’s pace, how fast or slow they walk, and pull how much tension is needed for the person to read and follow the movements of the dog.

Again, honesty is the best policy.

You want to walk at what would be your normal walking speed.

Remember you want this to be a long working partnership.

One question I get asked frequently is do they ever get it wrong?

Are there dogs that just don’t work out with a student or graduate?

The answer is yes.

Your dealing with living beings not robots and sometimes it just doesn’t work out for a variety of reasons we will cover in future posts.

Personally, I think if marriage brokers, dating sites used the guide dog matching formula there might be fewer divorces.

Now that all of this is out of the way, let’s talk about something much more exciting.

My Dog Day experience.

I arrived at Seeing Eye on Monday February 4.

Classes at TSE always begin on Monday and Dog Day is Wednesday.

I flew into Newark and was met in baggage claim by one of Seeing Eye’s long-time instructors.

TSE pays for transportation to and from class and does their best to book nonstop flights if possible.

An instructor assistant transported me to Morristown as I was the only student arriving at that time.

The van may run several times that first day bringing students to campus.

I spent the rest of the day meeting classmates, unpacking, and getting oriented to the building.

It has been nine years since I’ve been in class, and the building has undergone some renovations.

A class can have as many as 24 students and six instructors and a training manager.

Each instructor has from two to four students.

Classes are a mix of new and returning students and

Juno walks occur Monday afternoon around campus, and Tuesday morning and afternoon in Morristown.

Monday and Tuesday night’s lectures were on the week’s schedule, housekeeping rules, introductions, and passing out equipment.

Students are issued with a leash, and grooming equipment.

A feed bucket filled with food, measuring cups, and soft sided crate is in the room.

Grooming equipment, measuring cups, and a new harness and leash can be taken home after class.

Extra supplies can be purchased through Graduate Services.

I awoke early on Dog day.

I hadn’t slept well due to excitement and the beginnings of a bad cold which is making its way through class.

I got a cup of coffee from the student lounge but even that couldn’t calm my jittery nerves.

I’d been through this before.

What would its name be?

What kind of dog would it be?

Would it be as smart, confident, affectionate as my last one?

What kind of challenges would this dog pose during the training process?

And the most important question of all, would it be successful in transitioning to life on the other side of the world?

Breakfast dragged and afterword’s we had a meeting on dog fears while the trainers went to the kennel to run the dogs before bringing them to us.

They had had baths early that morning.

We returned to our rooms and waited for the clickety clickety of little claws on the tile floor of the dorm hallway.

There are only two students in my class, so the wait wasn’t long.

My trainer tapped on the door, and there she was!

I answered holding the leash in my left hand.

“Here’s your new girl,” the trainer said.

“Her name’s Eclipse, and she’s a black Lab golden retriever cross with chocolate brown eyes.”

My instructor is a training manager for another group of instructors so didn’t train my dog.

One of the other trainers in the class trained Eclipse and was present for our first meeting.

Eclipse immediately put her front paws on me and started licking my face.

I snapped the leash to her collar and brought her into my room and my heart.

This begins the transition process.

We are strangers to the dogs, and they may not particularly like us at first.

This is one reason class takes several weeks.

We will talk more about the transition process later, but I will say Eclipse is adjusting very well.

She is a sweet, smart little girl, and it’s hard to believe we’ve been together such a short time.