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The Dog Days of Cal's Preseason Football Camp

The day before Saturday's scrimmage, the Golden Bears' players and coaches connect with guide dogs
Jake Curtis|
The Dog Days of Cal's Preseason Football Camp
The Dog Days of Cal's Preseason Football Camp

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California Golden Bears

Cal plans to have an important intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday, but the mood after Friday's practice was not about big hits, it was about caressing dogs.

Volunteers who helped train and raise guide dogs for the blind were on the field with their dogs following practice, and the Golden Bears players and coaches mingled with the canines from guidedogs.com.

Head coach Justin Wilcox has had some personal experience with guide dogs since he had a relative who was blind.

"I grew up, my Uncle Joe was blind and he had two guide dogs," Wilcox says in the video atop the story. "I just remember that it changed his life significantly."

Wilcox had a close encounter with one of the guide dogs in training. The dog's name was Lucy, and Wilcox said he once had a dog named Lucy.

Inside linebacker Femi Oladejo will be working with the first-team defense in Saturday's scrimmage, but on Friday he had his hands full with a guide dog.

Odua Isibor looks like he will be a Cal starter at the physical position of outside linebacker, but he was gentle with a guide dog on Friday.

Tight end Jermaine Terry II could be a breakout star this season, and he demonstrated his technique with guide dogs

Several Cal players showed affection for one guide dog, who seemed pleased with the attention.

Wilcox did address Saturday's scrimmage, noting in the video below that he is looking for improved execution on both sides of the ball.  A depth chart will be released "shortly" although the starters at virtually every position have become evident during preseason camp.

School starts on Wednesday, which will change the practice time from morning to late afternoon, and the Bears will begin preparation for its September 4 opener against UC Davis next week.

The Cal team also got a visit from future Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald this week.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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