I saw a seeing eye dog riding the T with his owner yesterday; the dog was a beautiful German shepherd. This isn't an uncommon sight -- I probably encounter an assistance dog every couple of weeks around town or on the T -- but I am still amazed every time.
The seeing eye dog's owner is literally trusting his or her life to an animal. It's incredible when you think about it. I'm so impressed when I see the dogs waiting obediently by their owners at a crosswalk and then knowing when to walk.
Coincidentally, on the same day I was musing about seeing eye dogs, I read on boston.com that it was National Puppy Day: an unofficial holiday to encourage the adoption of puppies.
Boston.com had an online slideshow of puppies to celebrate, and one of the photos was of a prison inmate training an assistance puppy as part of a program that allows minimum security prisoners to train puppies to assist the disabled. It reminded me of an episode of The Dog Whisperer where Cesar went to help inmates at a women's prison who rehabilitate problem dogs. Dogs can heal!
Bottom line: Whether they are helping a person live everyday life or putting someone on the road to recovery, dogs are awesome.
Photo from Creative Commons.org
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