Wortham Center Puppy Club
The Wortham Center for the Performing Arts, a three-venue complex comprising Diana Wortham Theatre, Tina McGuire Theatre and Henry LaBrun Studio, is widely known as a cornerstone of the WNC performing arts community. Wortham Center hosts national and international touring artists, supports and provides a venue for a variety of community arts groups, and offers curriculum-based programming for students, teachers and families, with scholarship funds for low-income schools and students. A lesser-known aspect of Wortham Center’s role in enriching the community and providing access to the arts is serving as a training location for the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind future assistance dogs.
“Wortham Center is dedicated to accessibility for all, including patrons who need the support of a certified service animal,” says Wortham Center managing director Rae Geoffrey. “Hosting assistance dogs in training allows those who utilize service animals to feel welcome and also raises other patrons’ awareness of those who live with a disability in our community.”
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind volunteer puppy raisers Jayne Cleveland and Jim King have been bringing their trainees to Wortham Arts for nearly seven years. Having relocated from New Jersey to Asheville largely due to the latter’s local fine arts scene, Cleveland and King began attending performances at the Wortham Center soon after their move. They quickly identified the facility as a good place to bring guide dog puppies in training.
“Our goal is to expose the dogs to almost any situation they might encounter in their working life,” says King. “But we want to make sure that all socialization outings are positive experiences for the dogs, so we avoid taking them to locations that might be too crowded, noisy or potentially scary such as nightclubs or fireworks displays.”
Though King and Cleveland avoid locations that may be extremely frightening, they do work to expose the puppies to things that can be alarming to them upon their first few encounters. This includes everything from people in hats, sunglasses or floppy clothes, to garden statuary, construction zones, skateboards and bicycles.
“As puppy raisers, we seek out places where we might find these things, like Carrier Park,” says Cleveland. “And Wortham Arts is a fine place because we have all sorts of people who attend the performances and when the puppies are young, we like them to interact and be handled by people so they are not afraid of strangers.”
It is important to note that once the puppies reach six months of age, they must not interact with others while they are working. Though it can be challenging for both the puppies and those who are accustomed to showering them with attention, they must learn to focus on their handler and avoid distraction. “After six months, puppies begin to learn that when their coat goes on, they go to work,” says Cleveland. “It’s impressive to see how their behavior completely changes.”
To learn more or apply to become a puppy raiser for the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, visit Puppy.GuideDog.org. Learn more about Wortham Center for the Performing Arts at WorthamArts.org.
