The ninth- and tenth-grade classroom at Lewis County Adventist School, in Chehalis, Wash., accommodates six students with five humans and one canine. All have been here since August.

 

Necco, is a handsome Golden Lab whose mission is to be a Guide Dog. The pup has been ninth grader Kelia Cook's project since June 2009, when Necco was eight weeks old. She raises and trains him for the non-profit organization Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc.

 

When school started, Necco was almost five months old. He will leave around May when he starts formal training at the guide dog campus in Boring, Ore. There he will learn to walk in harness and to lead a blind person.

 

It takes work to qualify to raise such a special pup. “I went to three puppy meetings, obedience classes for guide dogs and began studying a detailed manual,” says Cook. “Then there was a home visit to make sure it was safe and to check out our animals.”

 

“The hardest part of training a working pup is being consistent,” says Cook. “He has to grow up to be calm and focused in order to be a good pair of eyes for a blind person.”

 

Cook and Necco attend bi-weekly meetings where the leader answers questions and practices important skills with the raisers and pups—going into stores, laying under tables, taking stairs, and most important, ignoring distractions. Necco is in school daily and attends all class field trips including plays and museum visits, where he is a perfect gentleman.

 

May will come all too soon, when Cook will have to give Necco up to begin his real work. Would she take on another pup? “Absolutely,” she says. “It's a wonderful experience.”