Ginger the dog’s first birthday is bittersweet for Mike and Marsha Mercier.
A future Leader Dog for the Blind, she will soon leave the Merciers for training in Rochester.
“On April 21, she’ll be a year old which means that it will soon be time for her to return to Leader Dog to start her intensive training,” Mike Mercier said.
“It’s going to be hard to see her go but knowing that, someday, she’ll be a blind person’s eyes will, hopefully, make it a little easier, but probably not much.”
Ginger is the Merciers’ first Leader Dog puppy. They joined the program as part of their service with the Clarkston Area Lions Club.
“It’s a good way to make the community aware of the Leader Dog program,” Mercier said.
The club was eager to participate in the program ever since it was reincorporated in 2005. Mercier was club president when he started the lengthy application process for the puppy program.
Ginger arrived last June as a 7-week-old, nine-pound puppy.
“She was adorable,” Mercier said.
She joined the Merciers and their black lab Bear in their Springfield Township home.
“I was nervous about how Bear would take it, but they became best buddies,” Mercier said.
Leader Dog for the Blind relies on volunteer puppy raisers throughout the country.
“Our job is to teach basic obediance and socialization,” he said. “It’s hard work, but so much fun.”
With the Leader Dog headquarters in Rochester, the program is well known in this area, he said.
“We take her to church, restaurants, shopping, movies ? blind people do go to movies, I learned. The community has been very supportive.”
Wearing her “future leader dog” jacket, Ginger was a hit in the Fourth of July parade, he said.
“Most people in the parade threw candy ? people were asking me to throw them the puppy,” he said.
“A lady came up to us, crying, and thanked us for what we were doing. She has a relative with a Leader Dog. They give people freedom. It’s an amazing experience. It really is.”
Next up for Ginger are four months of intensive training as a Leader Dog. After graduation comes more training with a blind person.