National Geographic: Those Wonderful Dogs Page #4

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but she put the safety and well-being

of the dogs above all else

"It was a matter of either go for a

record competing against

only Father Time

and no other musher and possibly

take more out of the team

than I like to

or just to take good care of the team

and be well satisfied with a victory

And I thought that

sounded a lot safer"

Susan and racing enthusiasts

everywhere know

the real tribute belongs to the bravery

love, and indomitable spirit

of these magnificent dogs

On an ordinary street in an

ordinary California town

a drama anything but ordinary

is quietly unfolding

Seventeen-year-old Mike Knowlton

was born with spina bifida

a disabling birth defect of the spine

that occurs in one to two out of

every thousand babies born

in the United States.

"Good girl. Hi, girl. Yeah"

Mike must be cared

for by his parents

Joy and Dale Knowlton

for he is totally paralyzed

from the chest down

Mike walked on his own

for many years

Then, without warning,

his condition worsened

"The last time he was walking

was right about here"

"At that point in time

he had to have support

from one of us to move his legs"

"When we were told he was paralyzed

and a wheelchair

was going to be

with him the rest of his life..."

"Michael went into a depression

for about two years

It was very hard

for him to adjust"

Now a dog has come into Mike's life

and the depression has lifted

Her name is Zest

"Zest has made a major change

If I didn't have her

I don't know what

I would do"

"She just really

helps me a lot"

A unique organization called

Canine Companions for Independence

or CCI,

brought Mike and Zest together

Using dogs to guide the blind

is a well known success story

CCI pioneered the idea that dogs

could also help the wheelchair-bound

During an intensive

two-week training program

students master 89 commands

For their safety as well as the dogs'

and the public's

they must gain total control over the

animals' actions

CCI instructors have spent

six months training the dogs

"All right. Good boy.

Good girl. Get happy everybody"

One of the most important

jobs is retrieving

"Look. Get it.

Bring it here. Good girl"

Keys are especially difficult

because of their uneven edges

and dogs dislike

the taste of metal

"All right!

Good boy!"

Because they will be going home

to very diverse environments

the teams are put into as many

real-life situations

as possible during the two-week course

Today, on a college campus the dogs

encounter some other

dogs that at first they think are real

"These are the kinds of things you

guys need to anticipate

know that it's

going to come up

These things happen

all the time"

Some in the class have driven in vans

equipped with electronic lifts

but none has had prior experience

with a bus.

For the dogs too, this is a first

"Remember, this is as new for

her as it is for you

And even though

it's new for you

you have to portray to her

that you're confident"

"Yeah. Okay, Zest"

"The most frustrating part was

having them

tell me to have the dog do something

And the dog wouldn't do it

and they wanted to tell me

how to get the dog to do it

But my biggest thing was would

I be able to make it

through the two weeks because

I kind of had doubts"

"No, Zest. Zest.

Come on"

"She should come to you

not go around behind there

She doesn't understand

that concept"

"Okay, Well,

what do I do to get her to..."

"You need to do what you need to

take care of yourself and your dog"

"I'll start over again"

The sheer physical exertion would

cause some to simply give up

But Mike is determined

Finally,

he and Zest are successful

Even for those with

the use of their arms

fatigue is a major factor that

often keeps them housebound

Dogs are a wonderful solution

for they will pull tirelessly

At the end of the two weeks,

the last hurdle

is the final exam

Of the more than 300 teams that have

gone through CCI since it began in 1975

humans have passed

With well-deserved pride

the class arrives

for graduation

threshold to their

new independence

"As you can see,

this is quite a loving team

And throughout their lives

there's always going to be

a lot of love

and commitment

on the part of these two

Mike worked very hard in

this class and so did Zest

And congratulations

to both of you"

"Ladies and gentlemen,

Mike and Ziggy"

The diplomas, appropriately

are inscribed

with both names

student and dog alike

"Mike and Zest"

Today Mike is a

high-school senior

Having Zest has helped Mike

vastly broaden his horizons

and now for the

first time he is

considering going

on with his education

a vocational

school where he thinks

he might study

computer science

Whenever Mike is working

Zest has been trained to rest quietly

by his side and not disrupt

the classroom

But at those moments

when he needs her help

Zest knows

it's time to work

"She does things like picks up papers

or pens and makes me feel independent

like I don't always

have to ask somebody

I can just go to

Zest and tell her"

All CCI graduates

report a dramatic rise in

self-esteem because

of the dog's role as icebreaker

People who normally feel awkward

approaching a person

in a wheelchair do not feel

uncomfortable in the presence of the dog

"I'm real shy

and the last couple of months it seems

like it's easier to go up to people

because most of the time

people come up to her

And I kind of get

into the conversation

It helps me to

get to know people"

"We didn't realize that kind of a bond

could be between

a dog and a person

It really gives us a

different perspective"

"We didn't realize

that a dog could do as much for

Michael's emotions

as this dog has done"

"Okay, Zest

Come here

Up switch,

Zest

Good dog

That's it

That's it

Good girl

Okay, Zest

Come on

Good dog

A boy needing help

and a loving canine at his side

Perhaps nowhere is

the age-old covenant between man

and dog more poignantly felt than here

In northern California one man

remembers a partnership

with dogs that many people

have never even heard of

For the 13 months he served

in Europe during World War II

Joe Simpson fought

alongside a dog

"Atta girl, heel"

They were one of the earliest teams

in what was known as the K-9 Corps

"In 1942 the K-9 Corps

was formed by a group of

civilians from the New

England Dog Training Club"

"And Dogs for Defense was

formed at the same time

and they picked 14 Guys

out of 5,000 volunteers

And fortunately,

I was one of the 14 picked

not because I knew anything

about dogs necessarily

but because I was in

the horse business

And this is how I got

started in the K-9 Corps"

Patriotic families

everywhere across America

volunteered their dogs to help

the war effort

Rovers, Spots, and Fidos

of al descriptions were sent off

to an uncertain

future in the Army, Marines

or Coast Guard

Like their human counterparts

all dogs were

examined for fitness

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