WANTED: Committed

individuals with a love of dogs to accept full responsibility for a puppy

for one year.

Must teach

the pup house manners and basic obedience skills, reinforcing those skills

daily. Care givers must be willing to give up the dog at the end of 12

months. The canines will then receive professional training to become

guide dogs for the blind.

It's a tough

job, but Bobby and Sandy Arrington and their two children are up to the

challenge. The Fayetteville family learned this week that they have been

accepted as puppy raisers for Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc.

"We're

very excited, but we're also a little concerned that we have to turn it

in," Sandy Arrington said this week. They expect to receive their

puppy in early December.

The Arringtons

were visited last week by Julie Aichroth, puppy program director for Southeastern

Guide Dogs Inc., not-for-profit organization in Palmetto, Fla., which

has been training and providing guide dogs to blind individuals since

1982.

Prospective

puppy raisers are interviewed at home by Aichroth or a staff member. "She

explained to us what is to be expected, and we talked about our concerns,"

Arrington said. Socializing the "foster puppy" is a major part

of the year-long training, according to Arrington. Taking the dog along

on daily outings and having it experience rides on public transit systems

are ways the dogs prepare to become the "paws for independence"

for the visually impaired.

"Maybe

I can take the dog for a ride on my daughter's school bus," laughed

Arrington, who admitted she didn't normally ride MARTA.

The family

first learned about the school's puppy raising program when daughter Katie's

youth group at Fayetteville First United Methodist Church, the Mission

Maniacs, opted to raise $1,200 to sponsor a dog for their annnual project.

Sandy teaches the Bible lessons for her daughter's group and became interested

in taking on a puppy.

The Maniacs

succeeded in raising about $400 last weekend for their puppy sponsorship,

proceeds from the sale of canine-inspired crafts, at the church's annual

fall fair. "We're one third of the way to our goal," said Becky

Davenport, coordinator for FUM's youth activities.

As sponsors,

the boys and girls will name a guide dog puppy, receive a picture album

and get periodic updates of the dog's progress. The sponsorship donation

covers medical expenses, transportation, equipment, training manuals,

evaluations and staff support for a future guide dog puppy.

Aichroth, in

town last week to meet the Arringtons and touch base with metro Atlanta

individuals who are raising puppies for Southeastern, said people who

get involved in the program have a real desire to do it. They must also

have the time to commit to raising the puppy for a year. "There is

five minutes of obedience training per day and you spend the rest of the

day applying it," Aichroth said. The dogs are also taught there is

"OK time," or supervised freedom when they can just have fun.

Aichroth has

been involved with training dogs for 16 years. "I had an interest

in dogs and read the book, 'Follow my Leader' when I was growing up. It

had an amazing influence on my life," she explained. Following a

three-year apprenticeship with Southeastern, Aichroth became the puppy

coordinator.

When the dogs

return to the campus of Southeastern on Florida's west coast near Bradenton,

they receive medical checkups and are evaluated for further training in

the program. Friendly dogs who are willing to learn progress to mastering

40 basic commands over the course of four to six months. The dogs also

are taught intelligent disobedience, or refusing to obey a command that

could endanger their blind or visually impaired masters.

Finally, the

dogs are teamed up with students who may become their lifelong partners.

Together they work for 26 days, learning commands and assessing reactions

to various situations, and forging a bond of love and trust. The training

continues when the team leaves the school and returns to the student's

home and work environment.

This is the

path the Arringtons' prospective foster puppy will travel. For information

about Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc. and its puppy raising program, phone

(941) 729-5665.