Anna peeked through a warped glass window. On the obstacle course, Fleck and the trainers were working with Paul and his guide dog. With the exception of Emmi, who was trimming a shepherd’s toenails, she and Nia were alone in the barn.
“Let’s squeeze in a little practice,” Anna said, placing the harness on Nia.
“You better not let Fleck catch you doing that,” Emmi said, peeking over a stall.
“He won’t if you do a good job as a lookout,” Anna said.
“Okay, but make it quick.” Emmi scooted her stool near a window and resumed grooming the shepherd. The sporadic sound of toenail clips filled the air.
Anna placed a series of buckets and a shovel over the floor. She fetched a walking stick and tied a blindfold over her eyes, blacking out light. Clasping the handle of the harness she said, “Forward.”
Nia padded ahead, veering around a bucket to give Anna ample clearance, and then navigated around the remaining obstacles.
Anna gave a downward and backward jerk on the handle.
Nia stopped.
Anna removed her blindfold, kneeled, and stroked Nia’s back. “Good girl.”
Nia swished her tail.
Emmi stood from her stool and pretended to clap her hands.
Anna’s chest swelled with pride.
For the past several weeks, Anna worked with Nia each evening and on her days off from work. Most of her free time was consumed with healing Nia’s paw and her surreptitious training. Using a homemade harness, which Norbie constructed from scrap leather and metal tubing, she taught Nia to navigate a mini obstruction course, made from chairs and broken clock remnants, in Norbie’s workshop. After Nia mastered the skill of guiding Anna, blindfolded and holding a walking stick, to ascend and descend the steep stairs of their three-story home, they ventured outside. The trainers typically used blindfolds and sticks to simulate the behavior of a blind person, but Anna refrained from using the items in public. She feared that news of her training might reach Fleck, who had strict rules on assigning instructors to dogs. Although the homemade harness was rather unique, she believed that she could, if questioned by Fleck, provide the excuse that she was merely taking Nia for exercise, which was part of her and Emmi’s responsibilities at the guide dog school.
Together, Anna and Nia traversed the cobblestone streets of Oldenburg. Mimicking the actions of the trainers, Anna taught Nia to stop at curbs, both up-curbs and down-curbs, as well as to navigate crowded streets, all the while giving ample room to avoid pedestrians. Her training did, however, come with mistakes. On one occasion, Nia attempted to cross a road in front of an oncoming wagon, and to prevent the collision Anna jerked backward on the harness and said, “Nein. Bad dog.” Anna disliked giving reprimands, which were tactics used by the trainers, but it enabled Nia to learn how to safely guide a partner across the street. Also, after some trial and error, Nia learned to disobey Anna’s commands to go forward when encountering traffic or excavation on sidewalks. Although Nia was intelligent and eager to please, her learning curve for guide dog training was shortened, Anna believed, by her ambulance dog experience.
Despite regaining use of her front right paw, Nia often limped—as if she had a thorn stuck deep in her pad—when subjected to consecutive hours of training. Anna worried that Nia’s frail paw was a chronic ailment that might never go away, but neither she nor Emmi expressed concern to Fleck. Instead, they predicted that Nia would, in time, make a full recovery.
Based on Anna and Emmi’s favorable prognosis of Nia’s condition, Fleck permitted Nia to begin working with trainers. But after a few hours of drills the dog’s paw began to rise, and Fleck had her removed. Although he was impressed with Nia’s performance on the obstacle course, he viewed her as feeble. As days passed, Fleck grew reluctant to include Nia with training, which hindered her ability to form a bond with any of the trainers. Anna knew, from her time at the school, that it was crucial for a trainer and a guide dog to form a strong partnership. This relationship was critical, since it enabled the trainer to create trust between the dog and a blind veteran.
Nia was the odd dog out, like a fragile child who was shunned by classmates to participate in a hopscotch game ofHimmel und Hölle(Heaven and Hell). Therefore, Nia spent much of her time in the barn, lying with her chin on the ground, while Anna and Emmi shuttled healthy dogs to and from the obstacle course. Anna yearned for Fleck to allow Nia more time with the trainers, but as summer turned to autumn and the war raged on, time was running out for Nia.
“Let’s try this again,” Anna said, glancing over the makeshift obstacle course inside the barn. She covered her eyes with the blindfold, and then clasped the handle to Nia’s harness. “Forward.”
Nia padded ahead, veering away from a bucket.
Anna tapped her stick over the ground, searching for obstacles.
“Fleck is coming!” Emmi hissed.
Anna’s skin turned cold. She dropped the harness handle. Struggling to remove her blindfold, she tripped over a shovel and fell. A twinge shot through her forearms. She pulled down her blindfold and worked to remove Nia’s harness.
Emmi darted to Nia and unfastened a buckle.
Nia licked Anna’s ear.
“Not now,” Anna whispered, loosening the harness.
The clack of jackboots grew.
Anna’s pulsed pounded. She slipped off Nia’s harness, shot to the wall, and placed it on a hook.
Emmi tossed the walking stick and shovel into a stall. She turned to Anna. Her eyes widened. “Blindfold.”
Anna removed the blindfold hanging from her neck, and shot her hands behind her back.
