Royal Sendoff: Cedar Hill Says Goodbye to Prince

He has great table manners, always lends a listening ear and never touches people without permission. His good behavior has landed him invitations to places most men are not allowed, including bridal and baby showers.

Sure, he may have four legs, but that fact aside, 14-month-old Golden Retriever Prince lives up to his name.

Prince may not be actual royalty but he has been treated as such for the past year that he has been coming to school at , and Montville Township High Schools. Prince has been trained in the puppy program for The Seeing Eye, Inc. and on Wednesday, during an emotional outdoor assembly, students, faculty members and friends said goodbye to Prince and wished him well as he moves on to the next phase of training.

Bonnie DiCola, the school nurse at Cedar Hill, has trained and fostered 12 puppies for The Seeing Eye, including Prince. She said she has been fortunate to have had the support of the schools and the to be able to bring her past four foster dogs to school to train them around the students.

After spending time in foster homes, the dogs are trained for several months at a facility in Morristown and put through several tests, including physical tests and distraction tests, to evaluate whether they would make good seeing eye dogs. DiCola's trainees of the past who have been able to evolve at the schools have moved on to bright futures in other states: Bailey is living with a blind student in Ohio; Simba is "working" in New York City and Elijah has an owner in Florida.

"They have to be physically fit and motivated and willing to work," DiCola said.

But Prince was DiCola's most recent furry friend and while she and her family were also confident that after the sendoff, Prince would be moving on to be a successful seeing eye dog, Wednesday's event was "bittersweet" she said.

Prince spent three days a week at Cedar Hill, Thursdays at Woodmont and Fridays at Montville Township High School. Being around so many children-and people in general-would typically cause excitement for a dog. DiCola and her family members have brought Prince to many crowded situations in fact, including restaurants and 10 separate trips to New York City. But Prince has learned to to ignore the people, and the people have learned to ignore him back.

A student who was in DiCola's office Wednesday shared the rules regarding Prince and other seeing eye dogs that have visited the school.

"Never pet them because they're in training," she said.

Elizabeth Lion, a Boonton resident, is training a five-month-old Labrador named Flossy and attended Prince's sendoff. She said that in addition to training the dog at home and in public, she brings Flossy to weekly Morris County club meetings. Flossy has not spent an extended amount of time in a school, but Lion said she sees the value in the experience for the dog, particularly when it comes to training the animal to avoid distractions.

"I think this environment is so fantastic. There's so many distractions that they have to tune them out," she said.

Saying goodbye to Prince was not an easy pat-on-the-head and wave of the hand. It was a schoolwide and community affair, with preparation beginning weeks before the date Prince would actually be leaving. Everyone in the school became involved with the sendoff, including Principal Dr. Michael Raj, who could not be present to say goodbye Wednesday but hand-picked the two toys Prince would be allowed to bring with him to training. DiCola told the students that Raj chose a large, grey stuffed animal because Prince would come to his office every single day and play with it.

Students drew pictures of Prince and wrote letters wishing him well, which covered the walls both inside and outside DiCola's office. Students wrote that they were confident that Prince would be succesful in his future endeavors. The following is a letter one student wrote:

"Dear Prince, You did a good (job) by being our seeing eye dog in our school. I hope you do good when you are helping someone that is blind."

Student Council representatives read more letters aloud during the sendoff presentation.

"You are as important as the sun," one student told him. "You will help someone live a better life in a better way."

Like any prince would be, Prince was presented with a crown and a shield. The shield spelled out adjectives that the students felt best described the dog based on the letters of his name: "P" for perfect; "R" for respectful; "I" for intelligent; "N" for nice; "C" for cute; and "E" for extraordinary.

An extraordinary dog deserved an extraordinary goodbye, according to the school, and a message wishing Prince well was even displayed on the marquis at the entrance. Reading Specialist Anne Fisher and her students read aloud a poem they had written for Prince and DiCola, telling each of them just how remarkable they are. A $169 donation was presented to The Seeing Eye on behalf of the students.

As Prince's final moments at Cedar Hill began to come to a close, a single student who was instrumental in caring for Prince came forward to take off Prince's vest which would later be replaced by a harness at his training academy. The students listened to the song "You're Here for Me" by Jackie DeShannon and teachers, parents and students alike shed tears as they said goodbye to their special friend.

The student was then invited to be the only one who would pet Prince one last time, a luxury that Prince is typically not afforded with his job. But as the Cedar Hill Student Council surrounded Prince and DiCola, who was filled with emotion herself, one by one, more hands made their way to Prince's golden coat. And DiCola allowed it this one time, because a dog as special as Prince seemed deserving of such a special goodbye.