Guide Dogs

Guide Dogs of the Desert International had its operational license reinstated Tuesday after hiring a licensed guide dog trainer, according to the State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind. Last month, the school's licensed guide dog trainer resigned and its operational license was suspended. State law requires guide dog schools to have a licensed trainer on staff.

Question: I live in the apartment next to a woman who is blind and has a seeing-eye guide dog. It barks for what seems to be hours at a time, especially late at night. I am losing sleep. Our manager says the woman is entitled to have a guide dog. He says he can't do anything about the dog's behavior because he would be sued for discrimination. Don't I have any rights in this situation? Answer: Your manager correctly understands that the fair housing laws protect tenants who have disabilities and who need service animals such as guide dogs to reasonably accommodate their disabilities.

Noses down and tails up, a group of fledgling guide dogs passed their college entrance exam Wednesday with flying crullers. Not to mention fragrant barbecued ribs, hamburgers, tacos and nearly every other enticing food scent that man could throw at them.

California has often been tagged as the "nanny state" for passing laws that some people say interfere with citizens' lives. But now it has earned the label for a whole different reason, thanks to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Republican governor announced this week that he had appointed a nanny -- his own children's nanny, in fact -- as a part-time state regulator on the Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind.

They may help the blind get around, but a group in Sylmar which trains guide dogs has found they need some help getting around themselves. On Sunday, the Guide Dogs of America, which raises and trains Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers, and German shepherds, will be given a new GMC Van, donated by the National Charity League. The donation will be presented as part of the graduation ceremonies for six blind students who have just completed 28 days of training with their new guide dogs.

The International Guiding Eyes Foundation will hold its ninth annual Golf Classic in Westlake Village on Oct. 4, with proceeds to fund the new John B. Pettit puppy nursery at the Guide Dogs of America facility in Sylmar. The event, sponsored by the Doris Day Animal League, will be attended by puppy raisers and their guide dogs-in-training cheering on golfers. Blind golfer Chuck Mayo will participate in the tournament.

After a Glendale woman who raises dogs for the blind in her home pleaded her case before the Glendale City Council, members Tuesday postponed action on an ordinance that would limit the number of dogs and cats allowed in homes. Councilwoman Ginger Bremberg said she would make sure the ordinance did not curtail the raising of guide dogs.

Dennis and Shirley Bartlett know about their Desert Grove homeowner association rules requiring owners to clean up after their dogs, but sometimes they simply miss the droppings left by their service dogs Nebraska and Marna. Residents complained, and the former association president mentioned the problem to the blind couple. Now, the Bartletts are headed to court to resolve the dispute. "You can't get everything all the time," Dennis Bartlett said.

Dozens of dogs being trained to guide the blind will rest more comfortably thanks to the work of a group of Campfire Girls and Boys. Led by Megan Mason, a 17-year-old from North Hollywood, Campfire groups citywide gathered 395 towels, blankets and other pieces of bedding and presented them to Guide Dogs of America in Sylmar on Tuesday. The nonprofit group raises and trains dogs to guide vision-impaired and blind people.

Jensen, a feisty 5-month-old black Labrador retriever, is no ordinary household pet. He is a guide dog in training. During the next year his caretaker, 13-year-old Jessica Tjalsma, will give him obedience and other training in the hope that he will develop the skills to become the "eyes" of a blind person. "If he makes it, it will make me feel like I've accomplished something," said Jessica, who lives in Brea.

IN the last four years, Michael Osborn, a 50-year-old Laguna Beach marketing consultant, has flown to 14 countries for business and pleasure. He is always accompanied by Hastings, his 75-pound yellow Labrador. Hastings has been the perfect traveler, Osborn says, spending much of every flight dozing under his master's seat. Osborn hopes things can stay that way, but like other fliers who rely on guide dogs, he is wary of some proposed changes to the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986.

Chef Didier Durand has spent months testing his restaurant's new menu on his most finicky customer: Princess, his 2-year-old French poodle. The ostrich country pate? To drool for. The bone marrow gateau? Delightfully crunchy. The grilled steak hache? Gone in a gulp. Durand and other chefs across the city are preparing to serve a canine clientele as the Chicago City Council considers an ordinance this month that would let dogs eat next to people in outdoor cafes.

Half a century ago, swindlers throughout California routinely foisted untrained mongrel dogs on blind World War II veterans who needed help to navigate their newly blackened worlds. In response, California created the Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind, the only state regulator in America charged with ensuring that the canine assistants and their owners are properly prepared by schools and handlers.

It would be hard to miss the piles left at the curb by Nebraska and Marna, a Labrador and a golden retriever whose constitutionals have gotten on the nerves of residents in a local retirement community. And therein lies the stink. Nebraska and Marna are guide dogs that assist Dennis and Shirley Bartlett, a blind couple living in the Desert Grove development.

Dennis and Shirley Bartlett know about their Desert Grove homeowner association rules requiring owners to clean up after their dogs, but sometimes they simply miss the droppings left by their service dogs Nebraska and Marna. Residents complained, and the former association president mentioned the problem to the blind couple. Now, the Bartletts are headed to court to resolve the dispute. "You can't get everything all the time," Dennis Bartlett said.

For a few prison residents, a weekend furlough means a romp on some well-heeled turf. The silver van rolls in from a New Jersey lockup on a Saturday morning and its passengers happily jump out: six Labrador retrievers being raised by inmates to become explosives-detection canines or guide dogs for the blind. Their city visits are part of the drill.

Although she sees very poorly, Jeanmarie Tall-Bonnell had never really considered getting a guide dog. She's afraid of dogs, she explained. Then she moved to Los Angeles. "I decided I was more afraid of L.A. than dogs," she said, reaching down to give an affectionate pat to Thatcher, the yellow Lab who has been her eyes since 1993.

It would be hard to miss the piles left at the curb by Nebraska and Marna, a Labrador and a golden retriever whose constitutionals have gotten on the nerves of residents in a local retirement community. And therein lies the stink. Nebraska and Marna are guide dogs that assist Dennis and Shirley Bartlett, a blind couple living in the Desert Grove development.

Guide Dogs of the Desert International had its operational license reinstated Tuesday after hiring a licensed guide dog trainer, according to the State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind. Last month, the school's licensed guide dog trainer resigned and its operational license was suspended. State law requires guide dog schools to have a licensed trainer on staff.

After numerous donations and the support of a private donor, Guide Dogs of the Desert International is out of the doghouse -- at least until June. The school, which was facing closure because of declining funds, received $50,000 in donations after news reports in The Times and elsewhere last month.