“Beau” heads off to college and gets ready to make his hometown proud

Beaumont is going off to college, canine style. The hometown pooch believes in helping people just like his namesake, the city of Beaumont.

The black Labrador will soon enroll in a rigorous school for guide dogs to learn how he can help someone who is visually impaired or blind move about freely in the world.

Wearing a blue-and-white vest to show he is a guide dog in training, Beau, as he is called, drew lots of attention and got a big send-off recently at a breakfast meeting of the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce. Many came up and patted the guest of honor as they wished him well in his upcoming classes.

“I’ll invite the whole community to come out and see his graduation,” said Ambassador Jackie Johnson of the non-profit Guide Dogs of the Desert.

The making of a guide dog

So far, Beau has shown all the traits needed to be a successful guide dog, including a good temperament, intelligence and an inbred desire to serve, Johnson said. Beau showed these and many more great qualities while growing up in Cherry Valley with puppy volunteers Laura and Phil Myring. Beau goes to Mass with the couple on Sundays and navigates the busy aisles at Costco and Petco. Beau got his namesake from the Beaumont Lions Club, which works diligently in the Pass area to help the blind and visually impaired.

The upcoming training will take place in Whitewater at the Guide Dogs of the Desert facility and requires a lot from every dog. It’s an intense six-to-nine month program month that teaches Beau and his canine colleagues how to be the eyes of his master. The dog will learn to spot and guide his master around an obstacle like a tree branch on the sidewalk and also how to safely take his master through crowded train stations and airports and cross streets while watching out for traffic.

The promise ahead

On graduation day, about half the dogs that start the school will be qualified to be paired up with a master. The others will find work as therapy dogs, police dogs and search-and-rescue dogs.

Beau couldn't speak for himself at the recent breakfast - at least not in words. But as the lab keenly watched guests file out of the Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon (former East Valley Golf Club), he seemed eager to begin a journey that will lead to a career of service and helping others. From Beaumont to his desert training, Beau was on his way!