For Loyal Friend, a Touching Tribute : Blind Man Creates Wooden Replica of Favorite Guide Dog

Mr. Beasley had his work cut out for him when he joined Mr. McCabe.

Mr. Beasley is a 2 1/2-year-old guide dog who faultlessly negotiates some of the busiest intersections in Los Angeles each day. Alan McCabe is a busy blind man who lives in Hollywood and fearlessly relies on the dog to help get him where he’s going.

Lately, the friendly yellow Labrador retriever has been leading McCabe to a basement wood shop beneath the Braille Institute at 741 N. Vermont Ave. That’s where McCabe is putting the finishing touches on an unusual tribute to his faithful friend.

It’s a full-sized, cutout replica of the dog. McCabe is using the shop’s power table saws, routers and radial arm saws to cut it from maple wood.

Shop instructor John Saunders helped by enlarging a picture of Mr. Beasley for use as a pattern. But it was McCabe who assembled 14 pieces of wood with glue and dowels before sawing and sanding them into the dog’s shape. The center of the piece is designed to become a planter.

McCabe, 46, previously worked as an automotive and vending machine mechanic. So he knew to pay close attention to safety tips printed in Braille before switching on the saws and other power tools.

“You have to know where you have your hand--you have to have reference points,” he said. “And you don’t push wood through a table saw with your hand. You use a pusher.”

McCabe plans to present the finished planter to Guide Dogs of America, the Sylmar organization that trained Mr. Beasley and matched up the pair a year ago.

“I wanted to show my appreciation for getting such a good dog,” he said.

The animal is the seventh for McCabe, who has been sightless since age 12 because of the eye disease retinitis pigmentosa. But Mr. Beasley is No. 1 in McCabe’s view.

“He’s easygoing, nonchalant. Nothing bothers him. He’s affectionate. He likes to play when his harness is off. He remembers places,” McCabe said.

“I tell him we’re going to Thrifty Drugs and he takes me right there. I tell him we’re going to the bus and Mr. Beasley takes me right to the 204 line. I don’t have to feel around for the pole or the bus bench with my hands.

“He’ll stop and back up four steps if he sees a car turning in front of us or if he sees a car backing out of a driveway toward us. He’s a very special dog.”

Officials of Guide Dogs of America--a 45-year-old organization known until recently as International Guiding Eyes--said the planter will be displayed at the dormitory where blind people stay while learning to work with their new dogs.

Trainers who spent five months working with Mr. Beasley selected him for McCabe because both seemed outgoing and fun-loving, said Andi Krusoe, a coordinator for the organization.

McCabe said he hopes to construct several more Mr. Beasley planters. Administrators at the Braille Institute want one because both the dog and the cutout have become something of a legend there.

“People in the hall all say, ‘Hi, Mr. Beasley!’ ” McCabe said with a laugh. “They don’t say hi to me.”