Hebrew-speaking Canine Helpers

July 3, 2014

Living in the world is challenging at times for those with eyesight, but for the visually impaired and blind those challenges can seem almost insurmountable. Some choose to navigate with a white cane, a universally known symbol for blindness; others opt for a seeing-eye, or service dog. Communication between dog and human is critical and requires that a high level of trust be developed, and the developing relationship is so much easier when both partners speak the same language!

Jeroen van
den Brock
Shutterstock.com Today, there are approximately 27,000 Israelis who are legally blind. Before 1991, any Israeli who wanted a service dog had to speak English (or learn it), travel to another country, spend three weeks undergoing training and return to Israel with a dog that understood only English. This was an expensive proposition and if there were problems, expert help was far away. The situation was far from ideal.

Fulfillment of a Dream

After his discharge from the IDF, Noach Braun knew he wanted to do something with his life that would help people and involve working with animals. When he discovered that there was not a guide dog program in Israel, he set out to remedy that situation. He journeyed to the US and persevered until he found a guide dog training facility that would accept him as an apprentice in order to gain the skills he would need to open a similar facility in Israel. Fulfillment of this dream was not an easy process; he began alone with his wife Orna and Tillie, a donated yellow lab. Today the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind (Center), located just south of Tel Aviv, is well-established with a staff of 22 and a track record of providing many visually-impaired Israelis with their key to independence.

Future seeing-eye dogs are born at the Center, the result of a careful breeding program established by Braun’s wife Orna. According to the Center’s website, “Labradors and Golden Retrievers (and first-crosses) are our dogs of choice because they are highly trainable, responsive, intelligent and have calm temperaments.” During the first year of their lives, the puppies are raised by volunteers in a home setting, learning basic obedience and socialization skills. Then they return to the Center for their formal harness training.

There are many advantages to having a seeing-eye dog program in Israel. Topping the list is the fact that the dogs are trained to respond to Hebrew commands, and the applicants, their new partners, are instructed in Hebrew. The dogs are also trained “to guide in Israel's physical environment and maneuver around typically Israeli obstacles such as bus-stand posts or streetlights in the middle of sidewalks; concrete barriers at street corners or cars parked half on the sidewalk and half on the road.”

Since there is a long waiting list, currently the Center is only able to accept applicants who are at least 18 and show that they will resume a productive life once they are partnered with a service dog. The dogs are matched to individual applicants and together they undertake a three-week training course at the Center, followed by one week of training at their home location.

Gift of Independence

Many blind people have testified that, with a dog, they can walk more independently and freely. In addition, their canine companion will often break the ice, making them more approachable than someone with a white cane. Encounters on the street can lead to conversations with total strangers that are so much a part of daily life in Israel.

Finally, our first language is the one in which we are most comfortable and find ourselves reverting to when we are tired or stressed. How wonderful that visually-impaired Israelis who are native Hebrew-speakers are able to receive the gift of a service dog who is also a “Hebrew-speaker.”

Source: By Janet Aslin, BFP Staff Writer