Eye on the Pupil: Sarah Fagan, dog trainer

In first grade, junior Sarah Fagan began training her first guide dog. A decade and nine dogs later, Sarah is still a trainer, and the joy she derives from training is only strengthened by the experiences she shares with the dogs.

Every Friday, Sarah brings her current guide dog trainee, Nezin, to school. It does not affect Sarah during class because Nezin is trained to sleep underneath her desk.

“Most people don’t even realize he’s there – which is exactly what we want,” she said. “The whole point of bringing him to school is so he learns how to have an ‘on’ and an ‘off’ switch.”

Sarah belongs to a group of volunteer guide dog trainers called the Mid Peninsula Puppy Guides. The organization is a Bay Area contact point for guide dog training volunteers from San Francisco to San Jose. The group meets to discuss problems but also goes on “cool outings,” such as to the fire station, parades and the airport.

As well as giving time for the fellow dog trainers to bond, these trips help expose the dogs to different environments. The outings are opportunities to have the dogs listen to as many new sounds and smells as possible, minimizing the dogs’ fear of unexpected situations. At the fire station, the dogs listened to the siren and sniffed the various firefighting clothes. They also encountered a firefighter dressed in full gear.

“While it may not look like a person, it’s still nothing scary [for the dog],” Sarah said.

By applying for the association Guide Dogs for the Blind, Sarah gained certification as a guide dog trainer. She receives the dogs when they are eight weeks old and returns them to Guide Dogs for the Blind after a year of training. At the school, the dogs then undergo rigorous training with professional trainers for four to six months. When they turn two, the dogs graduate and work as guide dogs until they are eight to nine years old.

In the year Sarah trains them, the dogs become temporary members of the family.

“The dogs travel with us on every errand and everything that we go to,” she said. “They live with us, they sleep with us, they go places with us and they essentially become part of the family.”

For Sarah, saying goodbye to the dogs is emotional, but she realizes that the dogs have a greater purpose—to help the blind. Understanding this makes the separation easier, along with receiving a new trainee puppy the same day.

Sarah wants to help both people and animals, and training guide dog allows her to do both.

“It makes you feel really good when you see the dog at graduation with their blind partner,” she said. “You know that the dog [will] really help them.”

Watching the dog develop is one of Sarah’s favorite parts of the training. Since seven dog years is equal to one human year, she says that it is fascinating to watch the dog’s thought development. According to Sarah, the development of a dog in its first year is equivalent to that witnessed in a first grade elementary school student reaching freshman year in the span of 365 days.

Sarah believes that Nezin has a lot to offer to students. By bringing him to school, Sarah hopes that the students will about helping others.

“There are other people that might need help, and these dogs are a way of showing that,” she said.