Cy-Fair High’s graduation will be doggone memorable
As Julia Smith was walking the halls of Cypress-Fairbanks High School recently with Nyland, the Labrador retriever puppy she’s training to become a guide dog, she noticed another student walking suspiciously close. Throughout the year, she reminded her fellow students — and even teachers — that they should not pet Nyland or call his name.
But once the student was in Julia’s peripheral vision, he struck, petting the dog with one fell swoop and running away as Julia turned around. He’s not the only one who can barely contain the impulse to rub Nyland’s thick black coat.
“My English teacher says the hardest part of the day is when Nyland is here, because she just wants to pet him,” Julia, 18, said. “Everyone loves him; they love having a dog here.”
Julia has spent the past year training Nyland and exposing him to new situations in order to prepare him for his future career as a guide dog for the blind or as
a service dog for the disabled. Julia herself is neither blind nor suffering from limited mobility issues.
As the year progressed, Nyland became a part of the school’s identity. The year-old lab has his own student ID card, a photo in the yearbook and throngs of adoring student fans. For spirit week, Julie had him wear a different costume each day. He’s also become the band’s unofficial mascot, even sitting next to Julia as she plays her French horn during practice and at football games.
And on Friday, both Julia and Nyland will walk across the stage at Cy-Fair High’s graduation. Julia is still trying to figure out how to sew an elastic band to a small graduation cap so it will stay on Nyland’s head.
Marion Gwizdala, president of the National Association for Guide Dog Users, said it’s unusual for a high school student to take on training a future guide dog. And he stressed that while it may look like fun, it’s a lot of work.
“It’s very time-consuming. You dedicate a year of your life to be with that dog almost 24 hours a day,” Gwizdala said. “People take them to work with them; they take them to stores. They’re pretty much mimicking how the blind person is going to be, taking the dog everywhere they go.”
Model citizen
By all measures, Nyland is a very good boy (yes he is).
He stands alongside Julia as she chats with classmates and teachers in Cy-Fair High’s crowded hallways. Occasionally, he’ll try to wander nearby to sniff a classmate’s foot before Julia pulls on his leash. In classes, he sits next to her desk or lies underneath, sleeping.
Julia carries Nyland’s essentials every day: a kibble bag, a roll of poop bags, a gentle leader that slips over Nyland’s snout, his dark-green vest and his leash.
Julia had multiple reasons for wanting to train a guide dog. One of her friends at another Cy-Fair ISD school did it last year, and she wanted to help someone who may need a guide dog to get around.
But one of her main motivations is simpler.
“I always wanted to bring a dog to school,” she said, smiling.
It took some convincing to get Nyland on campus.
Julia wrote a proposal, citing statutes that allow service dogs in training on public school campuses, and met with her principal several times before getting the OK to bring Nyland with her every day.
Before students returned from summer break, she spent a day at the school explaining to teachers and other staff members about Nyland and how to behave around him. No baby talk. No petting. No calling his name or signaling for him to come.
Those rules have been difficult for students and staff alike to follow.
After classmate Hunter Woods’ dog died in November, Nyland went up and sniffed the teen’s leg. Hunter could barely contain his broken heart and has since grown attached to a dog he’s rarely touched.
“He’s a student,” Hunter said. “When people want to say hi, they’ll say ‘Hi Julia,’ then look away and whisper ‘Hi, Nyland.’ ”
Teachers have been impressed that the dog hasn’t been a nuisance.
Mitch Lawyer, a Cy-Fair High math teacher who has Julia and Nyland in his college algebra class, said Nyland never barks or whines. The teacher hardly notices there’s a dog in his classroom most days.
“I never pet him without permission, and I’ve only asked Julia if I could pet him two or three times during the whole school year,” Lawyer said. “One time she said ‘Yes,’ and he’s such a happy dog. He licked my face; it was great.”
Nyland and Julia have become quasi-celebrities throughout Cypress-Fairbanks. Teachers stopped Julia on the first day of school, asking if she was the “dog girl” and saying how excited they were to have Nyland in their class. People stop her in Wal-Mart and in restaurants, asking if the dog is the famous Nyland and if they can pet his cute block head.
“Whenever we go out, we have to add 15 minutes to our schedule because people always stop us and want to talk about Nyland,” said Julia’s mom, Michelle.
But their time together is fleeting.
Leaving soon
On Aug. 19 — the same day Julia is scheduled to move into her dorm at Texas A&M University — Nyland is scheduled to go back to a training facility in either Oregon or California to complete his guide-dog education before arriving at the home of a blind or disabled person.
That timing is terrible for Michelle. Weeks ago, Michelle’s husband came home to find her sitting on the floor and weeping over Nyland, who was snuggled in her lap.
“I’m going to lose my daughter and my dog at the same time,” Michelle said between sobs.
It’s hard not to grow attached to the puppies in training, Gwizdala said.
“You can’t help but do that with a little puppy,” he said. “But the reward is at the end of it all, you know it’s going to be doing some valuable work.”
There’s hope for Julia and Michelle.
Guide dogs often serve their blind or disabled owners for five to 10 years, and after that, Julia could bring the dog back to her home. But in the meantime, Julia will have to rely on an intricate pencil sketch of Nyland to remember her canine friend while she’s off at college, a graduation gift given to the pair.
“It’s going to be terrible,” Julia said of parting ways with Nyland. “I’m going to miss him so much.”