MONROE — Harness on and ready to go: A local’s guide dog hits the road with his family for the day job. 

It’s a typical morning, and the Mayers are carpooling to work.

Tara Mayer lets her husband, Mike Mayer, off at Kundert Auto Service, where he has a position in the office. 

But he isn’t alone. 

Jet, his trusty canine companion, a black lab, hops out to lead him in, and by midday, they’re off again, taking the roughly-mile-long walk home for the lunch break. 

It hasn’t always been this way for Mike, who has limited vision due to retinitis pigmentosa.

RP is a “breakdown and loss of cells in the retina — which is the light sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye,” according to the National Eye Institute website.

It is an inherited condition, Mike said. Both his mom and grandma had it.

Symptoms often don’t show up until early adulthood, though, Mike added. 

He had a driver’s license from the time he turned 16 through the age of 26, since it wasn’t affecting his vision yet at that point. 

By 27, though, he started feeling the effects of RP and had to give his license up, he said.

“It was tough,” Mike said. “I had to rely on more people...” 

Before he got Jet, he used a white cane to help him navigate for a few years.

“I had problems crossing streets” with it, Mike said. 

It made Tara nervous when he walked, she recalled. She was concerned that he could fall. 

She was also worried that he could get hurt by a vehicle, since some drivers don’t always watch closely for pedestrians at a stoplight near their home. They had a couple of close calls, she said. 

“My eyesight’s been getting worse lately … (so) we decided that it would probably be a good time to look into getting a service animal,” Mike said, recalling that his grandma had a couple of service animals before him. 

They reached out to OccuPaws Guide Dog Association, a Madison-based non-profit organization that places trained guide dogs with people living in and nearby the state who need them. 

Just about one year ago, OccuPaws brought Jet into the Mayers’ lives. 

They were expecting to have to pay at least part of the cost for Jet, who had already gone through obedience and harness training, but “He didn’t cost (us) a thing,” Mike said. OccuPaws also provided the other necessities: Jet’s kennel, harness, food, bowls, leashes and more, Mike said. 

Having Jet has made all the difference.

“It’s helped us a lot,” Tara said. 

They previously had a challenging time going out as a family. 

Tara needed to both supervise their younger kids — Damian, 9, and Dylan, 3 — and lead Mike at the same time. Now Jet can follow her and Mike can follow Jet, so everything runs a lot more smoothly, she said.

Jet has also given Tara some peace of mind when Mike is walking outdoors, she said. 

He keeps Mike from overstepping from the sidewalk onto the street and will stop and wait for any cars upcoming to cross even if Mike tells him to move forward.

He is also trained to lead Mike right up to crosswalk and elevator buttons to help navigate, Mike said. 

When the day is done and they are back at home, after the harness is off, Jet is “just like any other dog,” Mike said. 

The Mayers have another dog, an 11-year-old lab named Rudy, and Jet often picks up toys and tries to entice Rudy to play with him, Mike said. 

Damian described Jet as a friendly dog who loves to have fun. He said he wouldn’t be able to pick a favorite between Jet and Rudy. 

When Mike first got his guide dog, Damian said he remembers that Jet sniffed at the family’s two cats and chased them around a little bit, but he has since gotten used to them.

“He loves to play fetch … and he loves food,” Tara said. Jet often trails behind her at home when she is cooking, always hoping to get a sample.

And just like any other dog, Jet’s training is always ongoing, Mike said. 

Though Jet was ready to be a guide dog when he showed up at the Mayer residence, Mike still had to get trained in how to work with him.

Just like any other animal, Jet has off days sometimes, Mike said, so he had to learn refocusing techniques. 

When Jet does something wrong, they repeat whatever action he performed incorrectly.

It’s a work in progress, Mike said, and it took around four or five months for him and Jet to get in sync. 

It was also a big adjustment lifestyle-wise, since Jet “goes everywhere with us,” Mike said. 

They always have to make sure they have his food and everything he might need packed up for trips. “It’s like having another child sometimes,” Mike said.

Since the Mayers love spending time on the water, Jet has even been boating and canoeing with them. 

It isn’t his favorite thing, since Jet isn’t a big fan of water, Mike said, but he does it.

More trips and adventures are on the horizon for Jet, and though the Mayers are glad to have him in the family, they are also relieved that it seems their sons will likely never need to get their own guide dogs. 

They got genetic testing done, Tara said, and it showed that Mike would only be able to pass RP onto a daughter.

While Tara has a daughter, Maisie, 15, since Mike only had sons, that would mean the disorder could end with him in the family. 

For any locals who have been diagnosed with RP or who otherwise have limited/no vision, Mike recommends reaching out to OccuPaws to look into the prospect of getting a service animal. 

More information on OccuPaws is available at https://occupaws.org/.