Getting stopped by total strangers is a typical part of Shari Nederhoff's day. They don't want to chat; instead, they usually lean over and start scratching behind the ears of Neutron – the Labrador Nederhoff brings with her everywhere she goes. They say things like, "What a cute dog!," and, "What you're doing is so valuable," and, "I don't know how you do it."
Neutron is not the Nederhoff family pet. In about 10 months, they'll hand him over to a stranger. And just like that, the puppy the family of four took with them everywhere will call somewhere else home, will have a new family.
Neutron is a guide dog in training, and his eventual new owner will be a blind person. The Nederhoffs are getting him ready for his future job – they're part of Lone Star Puppy Raisers, a North Texas group that trains puppies to be future working guide dogs.
"You have to remember from the beginning that they're not ours," said Nederhoff, 45, of Murphy. "But then, how can you not give them up when you know the good they'll be doing?"
The trainer families' main job is to teach the dogs obedience and how to behave in public. The dogs learn basic commands such as "sit," "stay" and "go to bed." They learn to walk through busy stores without getting overexcited. There's no licking or tail-wagging – and no barking.
Lone Star Puppy Raisers is affiliated with Guide Dogs for the Blind, an organization based in San Rafael, Calif. Lone Star is the organization's first Texas-based group, formed about a year ago.
Guide Dogs for the Blind is the largest guide dog school in the country and has graduated more than 11,000 dogs since it was formed in 1942.
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