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Most people know dogs as pets. For those with visual impairments, however, dogs can be a lifeline. The team at Dogs Inc, the Palmetto-based non-profit specializing in training and raising elite working dogs, including guide, service and therapy dogs, understand this perhaps better than anyone. It’s part of the reason why on August 26, a group of instructors took eight guide dogs in training to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, for a day spent training in a new and unfamiliar environment.

The dogs, Labrador Retrievers aged 16 to 20 months, are in phase three of a four phase training process that will eventually lead to their matching with their human. “Phase one is on campus and that is when they are learning to stop at curbs,” says Marisa Blanco, a Dual-Certified Instructor and Canine Development Manager at Dogs Inc. “Phase two is also on campus, integrating curbs that they’ve already learned along with obstacles, obstructions, dog distraction and maybe some food refusal. Phase three is when we start to leave campus.”

At the Van Wezel, the dogs were introduced to an entirely new environment—one full of distractions, obstacles and challenges that they will encounter in their future roles as guide dogs. “Coming to the Van Wezel is something that we’ve never done before. This opportunity is so wonderful because we have a lot of graduates that still go to the movies or to the theater or private concerts in settings like this,” says Blanco. “They were able to go on different staircases—some are curvy, some are straighter—and elevators which are always different from one another. They were able to work on food refusal with staged volunteers—if there is say popcorn on the ground, that’s a real life thing that happens when walking around a concert hall.”

The training opportunity was brought to Dogs Inc by Muffy Lavens, the Public Relations Director at the Van Wezel. “We actually received a letter from a patron last season who had received a service dog from Dogs Inc,” says Lavens. “She mentioned how it was her first night out in years she had had with her husband thanks to her service dog and how great it was that they were able to experience that show and have a date night. I sent it over to our friends at Dogs Inc and we started talking about how this could be a great facility for the dogs to train in.”

Dogs Inc, 4210 77th St. E, Palmetto, 34221

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