Puppy steps for couple’s canine cause

Cheryl and Carl Post have a new mission.

The Posts are on the committee for the “Canines and Cocktails” fundraiser to be held from 4 to 6:30 p.m., Sunday, April 30 at the Hotel Laguna.

“We were invited to join the Orange County Friends Committee of Guide Dogs for the Blind as fundraising consultants,” Cheryl Post said. “I reluctantly sat on my hands, resisting the urge to volunteer for everything. But I soon found myself waving madly when the conversation turned to the first-ever ‘friend-raiser’ in South Orange County organized to raise public awareness of this incredible group.”

The Posts, who retired from philanthropy after 10 years of devotion to Brandy’s Friends, a drug-counseling service for teens and their families, don’t involve themselves in a cause without cause.

“I don’t just raise my hand,” Post said. “We researched their programs and personally examined their financial stability. This is a wonderful organization.”

Laguna Beach resident Michael Osborn and his canine companion, Hastings, introduced the Posts to Guide Dogs for the Blind.

“Michael talked to us about a fundraising wine-tasting for the school in Northern California,” Post said. “So we went. There were about 350 people at the fundraiser, 30 to 40 trained dogs and others in training.

“We were overwhelmed by the bond between the dogs and their human partners.”

The Guide Dogs for the Blind school headquartered in Marin County was created by Lois Merrihew and Don Donaldson to help wounded servicemen returning from World War II without their sight. The school was incorporated in 1942 in Los Gatos, south of San Jose. The first serviceman to graduate was Sgt. Leonard Foulk, who was paired with Blondie, a German Shepherd rescued from a Pasadena animal shelter and trained.

The school moved in 1947 to San Rafael, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. A second campus opened in 1995 in Oregon.

More than 10,000 guide-dog teams have graduated from the school, according to school literature.

Some 24 students per class can be accommodated at the San Rafael campus, where Hastings was teamed with Osborn, who has been legally blind since 1995 after a gradual loss of sight.

Osborn and Hastings have been together for four years, and have traveled the world over, visiting 14 countries.

“Hastings has his own passport,” Osborn said.

Osborn successfully crusaded for guide dogs to fly in cabins with their human partners rather than in the holds of planes and to be exempted from the strict lengthy quarantine enforced in Great Britain. The restrictions were lifted in 2004 after Osborn addressed parliament.

“The BBC called it the Battle of Hastings,” Osborn said.

Human students get 28 days of training. The dogs start their training at eight weeks, first placed in volunteer foster homes to learn basic social and obedience skills. They come back to the school at 14-18 months for four or five months of formal guide work with licensed mobility instructors.

Dogs that don’t make the grade are released as pets or for other programs, such as search and rescue or assistance to deaf or disabled people.

Training and peripheral expenses are costly: $10,000 from the birth of a puppy to graduation as a guide dog.

Funds raised at the April 30 event in Laguna will be used to fund veterinary care for guide dogs in Orange County and for puppies in training.

Lagunans David and Susan Gerke are chairing “Canines and Cocktails.” The event includes drinks, appetizers, guest speakers and puppies. Cocktail attire is suggested. Tickets are $100. Donations are welcomed.

For more information or to make a reservation, call (949) 497-2616 by Monday.

“Guide dogs are invited,” Post said.