Friday, November 6,1987/The Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
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By Sarah Cranberry
Reporter
Reveille’s not the only dog who
attends classes at Texas A&M.
Danna, a yellow Labrador re
triever, is a guide dog who leads
her owner to and from classes
safely.
“I got Danna this summer on
May 24 in San Rafael, Calif, at
Guide Dogs For the Blind Inc.,”
says Laura Ann Grymes, a sopho
more elementary education ma
jor from Taft. “I’ve always been
interested in having a dog guide,
but I wanted to be sure that I
could handle college before tak
ing on the added responsibility of
a dog.”
Last year, Grymes used a white
cane and her knowledge of the
campus to get to class. She knew
the textures of the sidewalks and
the angles of the crosswalks, in
cluding where the cracks were.
“I still have to know those
things,” Grymes says. “I can’t just
tell Danna to take me to Harring
ton, I have to give her verbal left-
right signals.”
Danna, 2, hears her name and
jumps on the bed with Grymes.
“Danna is a guide dog,” she ex
plains. “Guide Dog and Seeing
Eye Dog are names of schools and
training centers for these dogs.
Dog guide is the generic term for
dogs like Danna.”
Grymes requested information
from the Commission For the
Blind and researched about nine
of the dog-guide schools before
making a choice.
“I picked Guide Dogs for the
Blind because I liked the way they
trained their dogs, the breeds of
dogs they used, the more per
sonal-type atmosphere and be
cause they offer follow-ups to
check on the dogs after a year,”
she says.
The school starts training the
dogs when they’re 18 months old,
she says. After Five months they
are given to students, who are
trained with the dogs for a
month, she says.
But before students walk the
dogs, they walk the instructors.
For training purposes, Grymes
walked an instructor, who wears a
dog harness, for two days before
she got her dog.
“I could hardly wait,” Grymes
says. “All I knew was they had
matched me with a yellow Lab
named Danna.
“They brought her in and I
had to call her to me. At first, it
was real hard for Danna to come
because of the bond she’d built
with her trainer, but once she
came, things worked out great.”
The trainers match the dog’s
personality and the student’s per-
“We matched up
perfectly. Danna can be
almost as stubborn as I,
but she’s just as playful
and friendly. ”
— Laura Ann Grymes,
Danna’s owner
sonality as well as the student’s
technique and strength of com
mands, she says.
“We matched up perfectly,”
she says. “Danna can be almost as
stubborn as I, but she’s just as
playful and friendly — aren’t
you, Danna?”
Danna’s tail thumps the bed.
The school didn’t cost Grymes
anything.
“The training, equipment and
Danna were all free because the
school works off of donations,”
she says.
Grymes and Danna live in
Hobby Hall with their roommate,
Tracy Wall, a junior secondary
education major from Richard
son.
Danna served as the vehicle for
an out-of-the-ordinary first meet
ing between Grymes and Wall.
“The first thing I saw when I
walked into my room was the
dog,” Wall says. “It was a surprise
to find out that Laura Ann is
blind, but she’s no different to
live with than anyone else.
“Having Danna makes our
room more homey. It makes me
not miss my dog so much. She’s
very well-behaved.”
Grymes says, “She’s a very pop
ular dog. People always seem to
remember Danna’s name more
than mine — everyone says hello
to Danna, and half the time I
can’t even tell who it was.”
Grymes says she likes having
the only dog on campus besides
Reveille.
“Danna and Reveille are
friends — finally,” she says with a
sigh. “The first time they met was
in the Blocker Building. Danna,
all of the sudden, started barking.
“Someone told me that she was
barking at Reveille and that Re
veille just looked at her like, ‘How
dare you bark at me. Don’t you
know who I am?’ ” Grymes says.
“I got really upset with Danna,
not only because I was embar
rassed, but because guide dogs
aren’t supposed to show any signs
of aggression,” she said. “If they
do, they must be retired.”
After a while, Danna became
more behaved around Reveille,
Grymes says.
David Oakland, a sophomore
in the Corps of Cadets and this
year’s keeper of Reveille, says Re
veille gets excited when she sees
other dogs, but he was surprised
when she barked at Danna.
“One day I just decided to in
troduce myself to her,” Oakland
says. “Danna and Reveille played
a little bit, but I think that Danna
felt a little funny playing because
she knew she was supposed to be
looking out for Laura.”
Grymes says she was surprised
when Oakland introduced him
self — and Reveille.
“I was really excited about get
ting to pet Reveille,” she says.
“She’s a lot smaller than I ex
pected her to be.”
Life at A&M is fun with Danna
because the dog has given her
// ImM I
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Photo by Sarah Cranberry
Laura Ann Grymes’ guide dog, Danna, leads her across campus.
more independence, Grymes
says. She can go places alone at
night and cross the streets with
more confidence because of Dan
na’s training, she says.
One of the few problems
Grymes has had on campus is that
people like to pet Danna while
she’s working.
“People fail to realize that she
is a working dog who is trained to
ignore everyone but me,” Grymes
says. “If she gets distracted and
walks me out in front of a car, she
could get us both killed.
“It’s fine for someone to pet
her if they ask first, because she
should be sitting at my side and I
should be holding her by the
leash instead of by the harness.”
“When I go out with people,
especially to nice restaurants, I let
them decide whether or not
Danna should come. Most people
like to have her along, if only for
the experience.
“I’ve even taken her to the
(Texas) Hall of Fame with me,
but I won’t do it again because I
hated leaving her at the table with
all of the loud music and strange
people. I felt really guilty, so now
when I go dancing I leave her at
home, where I know she’ll be sa
fe.”
Appointees
may become
candidates
AUSTIN (AP) — Texans’ ballot-
box decision to return to an elected
state Board of Education means the
panel’s 15 current members must
decide whether to run for the seats
to which they were appointed.
At least six have said they will or
probably will run. Paul Dunn, a Lev-
elland dentist who serves on the
board, said Thursday he’s definitely
going to be on the ballot next year.
“1 imagine it will be a real race,”
he said, predicting he would draw
opponents from larger cities in his
district, which includes Odessa, Lub
bock and Amarillo.
The Dallas Morning News re-
E orted Thursday that board mem-
ers Emmett Conrad of Dallas, Volly
Bastine of Houston, Mary Helen
Berlanga of Corpus Christi and Car
olyn Crawford of Beaumont also
said they would probably run. Ger
aldine Miller of Dallas was unavail
able for comment Thursday, but
other board members have said she
has indicated a desire to run.
John Mack Prescott of College
Station was among those who said
they would not run.
“I don’t care to go through the
trouble and time and emotional ex
penditure of a political campaign for
a position that has very little power
and prestige, and from which one
does not recover all personal ex
penses,” he said.
Also listed by the Morning News
as non-candidates were Charles
Duncan of Houston, Maria Flood of
El Paso, Rebecca Canning of Waco,
William McBride of San Antonio,
Katherine Raines of Cleburne and
}ack Strong of Longview.
Board Chairman Jon Brumley of
Fort Worth said he would not run.
Pete Morales of Devine could not be
reached for comment T hursday but
has told other board members he
probably would not seek election.
The board was changed on a tem
porary basis in 1984 from an elected
to an appointed panel as part of the
school reform act.
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