Puppy Pals

Do you ever dream about being surrounded by puppies licking you and kissing you all over? It can easily happen if you are a puppy raiser! Guiding Eyes for the Blind, based in Yorktown Heights, New York, breeds and trains the best work dogs you'll ever find. It takes over a year, and many volunteers, to develop a new seeing-eye dog. One of those volunteers could be you!

Our home often becomes a puppy palace where young dogs mingle with our three year old black Labrador retriever for experience and fun. All puppy candidates must be socialized with many other dogs (and people!) in many different situations to become eligible for year-long training as work dogs. Only the best dogs are chosen. The others become wonderful pets like our 95 pound bundle of prancing joy!

We spend many hours with the puppies and help them overcome their individual deficiencies. Guiding Eyes supplies a worksheet with every canine candidate stating the challenges each puppy needs to meet. The experience is not unlike raising a baby human. You quickly get used to chaos and insanity. Few things in life are more satisfying! Sit in a big easy chair with two or three furry faces sleeping on your lap and you'll understand what I mean.

The best doggies go on to intense training, visiting many different locales, becoming alert, aware and perceptive beyond your imagination. By the time these dogs reach graduation day, (the day the raisers hand the dogs to their grateful permanent owners,) they are proficient work dogs of the highest caliber. Guiding Eyes is renowned for producing the finest guide dogs in the world. It is a pleasure to be part of the process.

If you love dogs and creating miracles, take a look at their web site at: http://www.guidingeyes.org. There are dozens of ways to volunteer and become part of the Guiding Eyes family. Your donations are always welcome. You'll find them at:

Guiding Eyes for the Blind
611 Granite Springs Road
Yorktown Heights, New York 10598
Toll Free Phone: 800-942-0149

http://www.guidingeyes.org/