This is the story that Sarah LaRose shared with me about Pepper's abilities to think for herself when guiding. The story is incredible and the stress must've been tremendous, but Pepper got the job done.
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Sarah was at a convention for the blind and visually impaired and they were staying in the convention hotel. Many conference attendees were also staying there.
An afternoon break was scheduled during the conference, and a lot of people, including Sarah and Pepper, had returned to their rooms.
Sarah settled in for a bit of a breather. Since Pepper was no longer working, she removed her harness and they both began to relax.
Suddenly, a loud announcement boomed over a speaker.
"All people in the building must evacuate immediately. We have a fire situation. All people in the building must evacuate immediately."
The fire alarms began blaring and the evacuation began.
Sarah later shared, "We were told at The Seeing Eye that, if there is a fire emergency and your dog is not in harness, to not take time to put the harness on. Put the leash on your dog and get out immediately."
And that is what Sarah did - she leashed Pepper and headed out into the hallway, joining the throngs of other blind and visually impaired folks trying to get to safety.
There was a lot of chaos. She remembers hearing cries from others who were scrambling to harness their dogs and yelling at them to just get out and not take that time. "Go, go, go!"
Pepper and Sarah made it safely outside but in all the confusion, Sarah became disoriented. She knew she was near the building, but she was completely lost. And while Pepper was with her, she was out of harness and on a leash, the signal to her that she was off duty and not expected to guide.
However, Pepper figured out very quickly that Sarah needed her. And, she knew where they were. As Sarah told me, "She is brilliant."
When the all-clear was sounded, Pepper took over and began leading Sarah. No harness, no stiff handle for Sarah to hold onto, just a simple leash and a whole lot of trust connecting the two of them.
Pepper guided Sarah all the way around the outside of the hotel and to an entrance. She then led Sarah through that door and into the hotel. Still disoriented, Sarah continued to let Pepper make the decisions and to go where she thought they needed to go.
Pepper guided Sarah over to a bank of elevators. When they got off on their floor, Sarah was still not sure where they were in the building or where their room was in relation to the elevator that they had used. But Pepper knew and she took Sarah right to their hotel room door.
She did this all on her own. Using her ability to think and make decisions, Pepper had realized that Sarah needed help and so she guided her first to safety and then back to their room when the fire was out.
No harness to indicate that she needed to work, no directions from Sarah as to where to go, Pepper remembered where their room was in the hotel and got Sarah back there safely.
But when I get those occasional glimpses into her Seeing Eye past, I realize that not only is she my sweet girl, she is also a brilliant dog and one who is very much a hero.
Thank you, Pepper.
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