A dog is often referred to as a “man’s best friend,” but for Warsaw resident Penny Thomas her seeing service dog is her best friend. Thomas’s 2-1/2 year-old English yellow lab, Tito, assists her with many tasks she wouldn’t be able to do herself because she is legally blind. All of her family lives out of state. “Tito is my very best friend. He is my family and there is a bond between us and he is trained to keep his eyes on me,” said Thomas, 67. “I don’t feel like I’m alone. I would have increased anxiety without him. He has made a world of difference and he gives me a reason to smile every day.” Tito and Thomas go grocery shopping twice a month at Marsh Supermarket. She brings her grocery list and Marsh employees assist her in finding what she needs while Tito walks alongside them. She creates a grocery list using a computer that assists those who are blind using an automated voice. She also uses applications on her phone that take pictures of ingredients that can be read back to her. Thomas said Tito knows the deli employee’s voices and they give him a treat each time he comes in. She and her dog go to the park and the doctor’s office as well. “Everywhere I go, he goes with me,” Thomas said. She said Tito puts his head down on a seat to let her know no one is sitting there, and if she drops a credit card Tito uses his nose to guide her to the card. Thomas got Tito a year ago from the Guide Dog Foundation For The Blind in Smithtown, N.Y. She took an airplane to get Tito. He wears a harness and responds to hand gestures as well as verbal commands. “I was attending school in Indianapolis called Bosma, a school for blind adults, and there was a dog I noticed in one of the classes and the student was relaxed and I asked him where he got his dog ,and he told me the Guide Dog Foundation,” Thomas said. Thomas said she has been blind for 10 years and was diagnosed at age 57. “I had a headache for three days and had an acute glaucoma attack in both of my eyes and I just woke up and wasn’t able to see. I had three surgeries on my eyes,” Thomas said. She said she cannot process light and light is painful to her eyes. There are no more surgeries and her vision cannot be corrected and she must wear dark glasses to protect her eyes. Before Tito she had another service dog named Cargo, an American yellow lab, from 2012 to 2014. Cargo was retired and now lives with her son, Scott Thomas in Florida. She and Tito take the city bus to get to places. She said before she had either service dog, she used a cane. ‘The service dogs give me so much more freedom and boost my confidence,” Thomas said. Tito guides her to doors, to get her mail and guides her to a safe walking path when there is road construction. “Tito has saved my life twice, when we were out for a walk and during a stove fire at my home, “ Thomas said. She and her dog were walking near her home in fall 2014 and she was going to cross the road when Tito put his body in front of her, protecting her from a third car she didn’t know was there. “I could feel the wind from the car on my face, it was that close,” Thomas said. She and Tito escaped without injury. Another time Tito saved her life was when she was cooking and didn’t know there were flames coming out of the oven. “He kept pulling me out to the kitchen and I could sense the flames and called my neighbor,” Thomas said. Thomas said she looks forward to adventures they will have in the future, and said it is reassuring to know she has her best friend always by her side.
