Wilson sees the world in black and white.

Naturally.

Wilson's a dog and dogs are naturally colorblind.

But one day his black-and-white perception of the world will make a world of difference to someone who will never see at all.

Wilson, a 4-month-old yellow Labrador retriever, is training to become a guide dog.

Kathy Baker, the Blacksburg woman responsible for raising Wilson until his first birthday, makes a yearly journey to Michigan to bring home a puppy.

Wilson is the third she has volunteered to train for the Rochester-based Leader Dogs for the Blind Foundation, an organization started in 1939 through the efforts of some Lions Club members in Detroit.

Baker, herself a Michigan native, has always wanted to work with leader dogs.

"I've had dogs my whole life and I've been wanting to do this ever since I was an adolescent," she said. "My mom would tell me, 'You can do whatever you want -- when you grow up.'"

Baker grew up.

A "labor of love"

The 46-year-old mother of four first raised Max, a yellow Lab who now belongs to a blind man in Spain. Then she reared Tillman, a golden retriever who's currently going to Rochester's "finishing school" before he is turned over to his master.

Wilson, meanwhile, is gallivanting around the New River Valley in the blue jacket that proclaims his fate -- "Future Leader Dog."

"We take the puppies everywhere we go," Baker explained. "Our job is to acclimate them to everyday life. A lot of it is learning not to be distracted by normal, everyday things. It takes time for them to learn that."

Baker said the first thing people want to do is reach out and pet Wilson, but it's her job to teach Wilson to disregard them.

"The dog has to learn to ignore people and be able to focus on the work as opposed to other things that are going on," she said.

Baker said raising the puppies to work is costly, both in time and money. Volunteers have to pay their own way when they pick up and return the dogs, and they shoulder veterinary bills, as well as food and incidental expenses.

"For us, it's a labor of love," she said. "The biggest challenge is recognizing that we'll become attached. We have to put everything we have into it, and it's hard to say goodbye."

Learning disobedience

But the pain of parting pales when Baker sees what well-trained dogs can mean to people like Suzanne Ament, a Radford University Russian history professor who was born legally blind.

Ament's dog, Nikita, even accompanies the professor to class.

"I tell the students she's the only one who's allowed to sleep," Ament said, noting that Nikita's popularity comes partly from students who miss the pets they left at home when they went off to college.

In addition to guiding Ament as she walks around campus, to restaurants and up and down the supermarket aisles, Nikita makes it a little easier for Ament to meet people who might otherwise hesitate to approach a blind woman.

"Mostly, it's an icebreaker. People won't come up to you and say, 'My, you have a nice cane," the dry-witted Ament said, explaining that many people are drawn to Nikita, a yellow Lab.

"You should act like the dog isn't there but, of course, no one can do that. The rule is that if the dog is in a harness, you should not touch the dog, play with the dog or feed the dog."

Nikita, Ament's third guide dog, is almost 4 and has a very independent personality. She has been a challenge for the 46-year-old professor.

"The first year with her I could not wear anything but tennis shoes. I could not keep up with her."

Ament said guide dogs must learn something called "intellectual disobedience."

"You're at a curb," she explained. "You listen for the traffic. The dog doesn't decide when to go -- you do. When you think it's safe, you say 'Forward.' The dog will refuse to go if she thinks it isn't safe."

Ament said her first guide dog, Sparkle, once stopped her from going off a loading dock she thought was a step. Fortunately, the dog had mastered intellectual disobedience.

At home, Ament said Nikita is pretty much on her own. She does not perform such functions as fetching and opening doors the way service dogs are trained to do. Her main job is to guide Ament to avoid obstacles outside the house.

But Nikita likes to keep track of her owner no matter where she is.

"We're really a team," Ament said, admitting that Nikita gets special privileges she's not supposed to get.

"She's back on the bed. Don't tell the trainers."

Is your dog fit?

Both Nikita and Wilson, the wanna-be leader dog, will be walking Saturday at the annual Walk-a-Dog-a-Thon sponsored by the Blacksburg Lions Club in conjunction with Delta Gamma sorority. The fundraiser will support programs such as Leader Dogs for the Blind.

"We want to bring out as many people as we can and get as much support as we can," said Lions Club member Alvin Ottinger.

The Center for Animal-Human Relationships at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine will sponsor fitness tests for dogs participating in the walk.

Center Director Marie Suthers-McCabe said veterinary students will be checking the dogs' pulse, respiration and body condition at the beginning of the walk, at two water stops and at the finish line.

Suthers-McCabe said she's working on a plan now to involve other students in organizing fitness tests for two-legged walkers, as well.