Leader Dog 'Changes Life' for Peggy Sutton
By Ryan Schlehuber

Peggy Sutton's sponsor for Leader Dog for the Blind training this winter was the St. Ignace Lions Club. Pictured are club members (front, from left) Max Colburn, Tom Hamel, Joe Durm, Peggy Sutton and her dog, Amber, Charlie Fowler, George Ford, John Schieding; (second row) John Lipnitz, Wayne Foote, Club President Willie LaLonde, Paula McNamara, Merlin Doran, Don Gustafson, Elgie Dow; Bob Heywood, Mike Wilkins, Paul Grondin, Fred Strich, Craig Therrian, Paul Sved, Gary Olsen, and Lawrence Leveille.

Amber, a three-year-old German shepherd, is not only Peggy Sutton's new best friend, she is another set of eyes for her.

Mrs. Sutton, 66, of Moran Township, who calls herself "more than legally blind," acquired Amber through the Leader Dogs for the Blind training program in Rochester. Through Amber's eyes, Mrs. Sutton has more mobility and more confidence wherever she goes.

"This dog has changed my life," she said. "I feel safe walking down the road now. Where I live, there are no sidewalks, so I always got a little scared when cars would drive by me. With Amber, she sees them coming and knows to move me off the shoulder of the road. I crossed State Street [in St. Ignace] with her for the first time."

Mrs. Sutton takes Amber everywhere, even to choir rehearsal at church.

"She's very good; she never barks," said Mrs. Sutton, who retired from the Mackinac Straits Hospital as the activities department director in 2000. She and her husband, Don, have four children and several grandchildren.

Among 25 teams trained at a Leader Dog program last December, Mrs. Sutton and Amber had the distinction of being the oldest team in the program. There were trainees from Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, and Canada. Only 10 of the 25 dogs being trained remained in the United States.

Mrs. Sutton's training was supported by the St. Ignace Lions Club.

Amber was chosen for Mrs. Sutton based on her walking stride, personality, and family dynamics.

"She was the trainers' favorite, probably because she had been around for so long," said Mrs. Sutton. "It took some time for her to get used to me because she was shy at first, but now she sticks very close to me.

"Whenever I say to her 'want to work?' she bounces around," Mrs. Sutton added. "She loves to go to work."

Amber is so well trained that she knows the difference between work time and play time.

"She is great with playing with kids but she knows to go right to work when she gets her harness on," said Mrs. Sutton. Leader dogs usually work for 10 years.

Mrs. Sutton will travel to Rochester Saturday, May 21, to talk to the Rochester Lions Club about the training program and her dog.