WELCOME OUR NEWEST INSTRUCTORS:
LAUREN, OLIVIA, & KATIE

We’d like to congratulate Lauren Cobb, Olivia Deschler, and Katie Samuels for successfully completing their three-year apprenticeships and becoming our newest our guide dog mobility instructors. The apprentices first completed a written exam covering a multitude of subjects. After their written exam came the practical exam. Apprentices had to design a guide dog route, and while wearing a blindfold, follow the route using a dog they had trained. Finally, they completed an hour-long oral exam in front of a panel of subject matter experts. 

To learn more about our newest instructors we asked Lauren, Olivia, and Katie to each share a bit about their journeys with Guide Dog Foundation. Please enjoy!

LAUREN COBB:

Why did you decide to become a guide dog mobility instructor?
After volunteering for the organization in college, I discovered that this career path was the best way for me to mesh my two goals of helping people and working with dogs all into one. 
 
You started your apprenticeship just as the pandemic forced us to think of new ways to accomplish our mission. How do you think that affected your training and your ability to adapt to changing conditions?
Our first year of the apprenticeship panned out completely differently than what was originally laid out, so we learned really early on how to go with the flow and take the schedule a week at a time. I think this really helped mold us as instructors to be flexible when training our dogs and working with clients. 
 
What did you like best about the apprenticeship program?
I love how hands-on all of our learning opportunities were. Even when we had classroom lectures, they were interactive and we go to put our new knowledge to work right away. This included training our dogs and working with our clients. I also loved getting to know and work with such a wide variety of dogs and people! 
 
What has surprised you the most during your journey to become a guide dog instructor?
The shin splints! I knew coming into this job that it was going to be physical, but I didn't initially understand just how much walking and physical activity we would be doing on a daily basis – typically walking about 10 miles a day! 
 
What do you like best about your job?
I love seeing new handler and dog teams forming relationships and gaining trust in each other throughout the two-week class. I also love seeing updates from clients once they go home with their new guide dog and hearing about all their successes and adventures they are taking on together. 
 
OLIVIA DESCHLER:

Why did you decide to become a guide dog mobility instructor?
After returning from England where I had completed my undergraduate degree and master’s psychology, I was searching for job opportunities that would combine my desire to work with and help people, and my love of animals. After watching the film “Pick of the Litter” on an airplane, I was inspired by the work the guide dogs were trained to do, and the instructors who were an integral part of creating not only successful guide dogs, but successful guide dog teams. It seemed as if each day would be different than the last, and the hard work would pay off in the most beautiful way. After a little bit of research I was elated to find that a guide dog school was right here in my backyard on Long Island. A guide dog trainer seemed like the answer I was looking for: working with the dogs and teaching them how to do their job through a lens of positive reinforcement, and working with the students who come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences who would greatly benefit from having a guide dog as their mobility tool. I was excited and motivated to apply to the apprentice role, and the rest is now history! 

You started your apprenticeship just as the pandemic forced us to think of new ways to accomplish our mission. How do you think that affected your training and your ability to adapt to changing conditions?
The pandemic was obviously not part of our plan, but it definitely allowed us as apprentices to focus on tasks with an attention to detail, which helped us to create a solid foundation in our learning. As we adjusted to working from home, we had the time to work on projects or discuss topics that would really create better learning opportunities for us, as well as the students we work with. We also had the wonderful opportunity to experience and bond with our working dogs at home, which was a unique chance. As a guide dog trainer, you are faced with many changing variables and circumstances that you have to be able to mold to work with and starting the job during the pandemic proved to all of us that we were capable of being successful in even those unprecedented times. 

What did you like best about the apprenticeship program?
I enjoyed being able to work and learn with the other apprentices. We had the ability to bounce ideas off each other, discuss our experiences, and support one another for the entirety of the program. It was so nice to have the learning experiences, the laughs, and the adventures all together!

What has surprised you the most during your journey to become a guide dog instructor?
I guess I have been surprised by my ability to work with a variety of dogs who have different personalities, temperaments and ways of thinking. There is such a long list of tasks and skills that a guide dog needs in order to successfully become a guide dog. However, as a trainer we have to treat all of the dogs as individual learners. No two dogs have been exactly the same, but I have successfully been able to mold and shape so many dogs into successful guide dogs despite their quirky personalities, favorite type of reinforcement, or speed of moving and/or thinking.  

What do you like best about your job?
It is difficult to name one thing which I like best about my job, but getting to meet people from all over and working with them to help achieve their mobility goals and increase their independence is very high up on the list. Training with and snuggling cute dogs all day is definitely a perk too! 

KATIE SAMUELS:

Why did you decide to become a guide dog mobility instructor?
I became involved in the Guide Dog Foundation in my freshman year as an undergraduate student at the University of Georgia in 2010. I was looking for a way to make the campus feel smaller and couldn't help but notice the sweet puppies in yellow vests that seemed to be everywhere. I've always known I wanted to be involved in the helping field and this seemed like the perfect way to start and hopefully make some new friends along the way. I raised my first dog, a yellow Lab named Mandi, who ended up graduating as a guide. When I attended her celebration ceremony and met her client, I was hooked! I continued to puppy raise throughout my undergraduate career and even through obtaining my master’s degree in social work, also from UGA. After graduating with my MSW, I worked for a non-profit organization where I managed a crisis hotline for child sex trafficking survivors. I was in this role for three years; eventually, it left me feeling very burnt out. I was looking for my next adventure when the opportunity for the apprenticeship presented itself. It felt like the perfect marriage between working for the organization I've loved for so long and working with people. It's been an incredible three years and I am so grateful for all I've learned along the way! I often think of Mandi and the fact that she didn't just impact her graduate's life, but so many more in igniting my dream of working with guide dogs and their handlers. 
 
You started your apprenticeship just as the pandemic forced us to think of new ways to accomplish our mission. How do you think that affected your training and your ability to adapt to changing conditions?
I believe when you are working with living beings, both dogs and people, flexibility is a critical skill to have. Beginning our apprenticeship as the pandemic shut everything down prompted us to develop this skill very early on but I think we are the better for it! Our experiences have been unconventional to say the least and it's caused us to be creative in developing our skills as instructors. 
 
What did you like best about the apprenticeship program?
I truly appreciate how thorough the educational component of the apprenticeship program is. We had the opportunity to read books about the science behind positive reinforcement training, how best to work with people and build meaningful instructor-student relationships, and we got to work with varied dogs and clients that allowed us to grow as instructors. 
 
What has surprised you the most during your journey to become a guide dog instructor?
There are so many factors that an instructor needs to be mindful of when not only training the dogs but throughout the matching process and working with/establishing a new guide dog team. This is definitely what surprised me the most! There is so much more than just magic that seems to put these teams together. Additionally, the motivation and skills our clients need to possess in order to effectively work with one of our dogs. Our clients are truly amazing, and I've been so fortunate to work with so many special people throughout my apprenticeship. 
 
What do you like best about your job?
I get to work with such an incredible team, dogs, clients, volunteers, and fellow staff included. I am surrounded by people who are just as in love with our mission as I am and push me to continue to grow as a guide dog mobility instructor. I learn so much with each client and dog I work with and get to take all I learn and continue to use that knowledge in each future team I encounter. No day is ever the same!