After a year together many say handing over the leash is the hardest part.

But for the volunteers who dedicate their time training puppies to become dogs that help blind people in their day-to-day routines the pain of letting go is replaced by notion of how that dog will change someone’s life.

On Feb. 17, about a dozen volunteers for Leader Dogs for the Blind and their puppies ranging from 8 weeks to one-year-old, met at the Pleasantview Fire Protection District station in Burr Ridge to practice a few skills.

The dogs ventured up and down a staircase, socialized with a firefighter in full emergency gear and toured the inside of an ambulance. The puppies were also taken outside and exposed to a fire engine pulling up with its lights and sirens blaring.

Craig Goldwyn of Brookfield is anticipating the arrival of the fifth puppy he will help train as a leader dog.

Goldwyn and his wife decided to get involved with the program following the death of their family dog. He said he finds the process very gratifying.

“There is a miracle that happens. You hand the leash over to the blind person and the dog figures out that something is different here,” Goldwyn said. “I’m not playing, I’m working. I don’t understand how they figure that out.”

Lynn Kimble has been a puppy councilor for Leader Dogs for the Blind for 15 years. She said an important aspect of the program is properly pairing the right dog with the right person.

A key component to successfully training a leader dog is exposing it to the different sights and sounds in various environments.

Kimble said in the case a dog eventually walks along side a student it needs to be comfortable among the hustle and bustle of a school campus.

Volunteers are urged to take their leader dogs in training anywhere they’re permitted including sporting events, firework shows, parades, malls and churches.

“(The volunteers) are expected to socialize the puppies,” Kimble said.

As part of training the dogs even head to an airport, board a plane and remain inside as a pilot fires up the engines.

Kimble said leader dogs need to remain calm and aware in any situation.

Following the year-long training process in the hands of the volunteers the dogs are then taken to the Leader Dogs for the Blind facility in Rochester, MI., for about five more months of training with a formal instructor before being coupled with a blind person.

Goldwyn said that once the dog fully completes its training it becomes more than just an aid to a blind person.

“They mean freedom to somebody,” Goldwyn said.