McGrew, a Sunnyvale resident for the past eight years, has been blind since birth. However, her visual impairment does not deter her from her daily chores. McGrew, 37, has the assistance of a loyal friend—her guide dog, Jardena, a yellow Labrador retriever.

"I've had Jardena for three years—since she was 18 months old," McGrew says. "I can't do without her."

Jardena provides McGrew with constant guidance both inside and outside the house. Jardena "works" anywhere from an hour to all day, depending on McGrew's schedule.

"She knows she's working as soon as the harness is on her," McGrew says.

Jardena fell asleep under the table after guiding McGrew from her neighborhood and along busy streets into the restaurant for the interview with The Sunnyvale Sun. With Jardena's guidance, McGrew says, she is able to travel freely on public transportation and walk to stores an d restaurants and around her neighborhood.

However, it takes a lot of commitment and training from several different people before a blind person is entrusted with a guide dog. The training starts when the future guide dog is just a few weeks old.

Photograph by Sean Penello Michelle McGrew and her guide dog, Jardena, cross a street.

"Their minds are like sponges when they are so young," he says. "They respond very well and are so eager to please."

Schabilion, 43-year Sunnyvale resident, says he first thought of becoming a puppy raiser when he spoke with a blind woman with a guide dog in a grocery store. Soon after, he began the process of acquiring a puppy.

He approached Guide Dogs for the Blind—a nonprofit organization based in San Rafael—which provides guide dogs to visually impaired people throughout the United States and Canada. Six years ago he received his first puppy after filling out paperwork and attending a few meetings. The organization interviewed him and inspected his home to check out basic safety conditions before he was able to bring the puppy there.

McGrew says she had to go through a similar process to receive her guide dog. Besides a long and detailed interview about her lifestyle, activities and skills, the interviewer observed McGrew walking around the neighborhood to gauge her speed and skills. The more information the organization can garner about the blind person, the better they can match the person with the guide dog.

However, the process becomes easier and shorter after the first time the person receives an animal, both McGrew and Schabilion say. Once the organization has all the person's information on file, it just becomes a matter of updating the file.

His experience with dogs notwithstanding, Schabilion says getting a new puppy can be different every single time.

"The first night is always an eye-opener," Schabilion says. "It's like bringing a baby home."

Puppies miss their family—their siblings—when they are taken away so young, he explains.

"Brandy kept me awake the first night—all night," he says.

Finally, by handling the situation firmly, he was able to quiet her down.

"We train puppies to be comfortable and quiet on their own," he says. "And not have someone fussing over them all the time."

Besides basic commands and social skills, the puppies are trained to be familiar with situations and settings that involve blind people, he explains. Schabilion says he takes his puppies on public transportation whenever he can—Caltrain, BART, VTA buses and light rail. Not only will Brandy become familiar with all the sounds and smells, but she will also become a successful guide dog by learning her way around, he says.

"The trick is to 'think blind,' " he says. "Then all of your training will have some meaning."

Photograph by Sean Penello Brandy, a 9-week-old golden retriever is, as her T-shirt notes, a guide dog puppy.

"Hopefully a blind person can use our trained puppy," Schabilion says. "It's gratifying."

Despite all the time and effort that puppy raisers put into the training, it doesn't always work out according to their plans, he says. Schabilion's second puppy did not make it as a guide dog but has become a successful search and rescue dog.

"She was a thinker and just did not want to be a guide dog," he says. "I was disheartened because I thought she was very intelligent, but she's doing great now."

After a year's training with the puppy raisers, the dogs are taken back to the San Rafael training facility for 4 to 5 months of intensive training before they are matched with a client. It is during this time that the instructors discern whether the dog has the ability and inclination to be a successful guide dog. There are several options for those dogs that don't make it as guide dogs—some go into other specialized training or go to live with their puppy raisers or other families as pets.

"Only 50 percent of the trained puppies make it as working guide dogs," Schabilion explains.

The organization matches about 25 dogs with clients every month, he says. The official handing over of the guide dog to the client takes place during a graduation ceremony in San Rafael. Schabilion says the first graduation ceremony that he attended was a very emotional one. The gratitude expressed by the clients deeply touched him, he says.

"These people tell you how much these dogs mean to them," he says.

McGrew says she felt similarly about all her guide dogs, especially her first one.

"I got my first guide dog when I graduated from high school—20 years ago," McGrew says. "I was looking forward to getting my very first dog."

Before the dog goes into a household, the client is required to travel to the San Rafael facility and live in the organization's dormitory with the dog for a few weeks to determine how the two bond. Instructors train them both together to get them started before sending them home.

The organization breeds its own dogs from purebred stock of golden retrievers, German shepherds and black and yellow Labradors. Although each case is different, a guide dog's working life is eight to 10 years on average. Once the dog is retired, the handler can either choose to keep the dog as a pet or return it to the organization. The organization places returned dogs with families as pets.

McGrew says she has never before experienced the freedom that she has with a guide dog. Although McGrew says she has learned basic skills, such as getting around the neighborhood, she leaves it up to Jardena to take her places safely.

"Jardena is trained to take me around obstacles—indicate curbs," she says. "If there's a pole, then she's trained to walk me around it."

McGrew says there have been times when Jardena has forgotten or neglected to stop when she should, like before they come to a low tree branch. During those times, McGrew says she "reworks" the commands and makes sure Jardena is paying attention.

Guide dogs are taught to back up when faced with something unsafe, like if there's a car or something else blocking the sidewalk. It's up to McGrew to give Jardena the signal to move forward by listening for sounds. However, Jardena makes the ultimate decision, McGrew says. With "intelligent disobedience" she is able to avert any dangerous situation from happening.

"My number-one rule is to follow the dog," McGrew says, adding that it's sometimes very difficult. "I have to trust the dog to make her decision."

"It's very hard to put your faith in a dog," says Schabilion. "But a well-trained dog will get you through the toughest situation."

McGrew recounted an incident that took place not too long ago. Once during a neighborhood walk, she gave Jardena the signal to move forward but Jardena wouldn't move. A few seconds later she heard a truck coming toward her from the opposite direction. The truck turned into the driveway just in front of her. Jardena decided to disobey her command because she felt it was unsafe.

"When she does something like that I talk to her and praise her," McGrew says. "I tell her how good she is—she works for praise."

McGrew and Darin, her husband of 16 years, live in a duplex with Jardena and Nora—McGrew's retired guide dog. McGrew takes care of their house as well as Nora and Jardena.

McGrew maintains control inside the house by keeping things in their places. She refers to her Braille recipes when she cooks and keeps her spices organized with Braille labels.

When she was 8 years old McGrew moved to Oregon from the East Coast. After graduating high school, she earned a bachelor's degree in psychology with an emphasis in health and development from Stanford University.

She is involved with the Silicon Valley Council of the Blind and provides peer support to other blind people. Although there's a lot of information available electronically, McGrew says, gaining access to information can be a challenge.

Despite the many challenges she continues to face, McGrew says she's grateful to have Jardena to guide her through her day and to the organization for its support.

Guide Dogs for the Blind provides guide dogs at no charge to the client. The organization receives no funding from the government and is entirely supported by private donations and volunteers. The training facility in Northern California is located at 350 Los Ranchitos Road in San Rafael. For more information, call 800.295.4050 or visit www.guidedogs.com.