Guiding Eyes For The Blind

"Rain," poses with Collin Wright Wright trained the puppy for Guiding Eyes For the Blind

Collin Wright became a puppy raiser for Guiding Eyes For The Blind as a teenager.

His first training on how to raise the puppies began as part of a mother and son team before he moved on to become certified on his own.

How he and his family became involved with the organization, "Guiding Eyes For The Blind," was the result of the family's personal struggle and and their emotions after losing a beloved pet. Wright explains the situation this way, "We've always been a dog family. We always had dogs and we lost a pet dog in 2014. It was really tough for us as we had to come to terms with that life cycle."

As they dealt with the ordeal and heartache of their loss, he adds, "We were looking for a way to have a dog in the house without really having that life cycle (issue) that was so traumatic for us."

That's when they became involved with the Guiding Eyes For The Blind Program and the way the program works, according to Wright, is that the organization matches the family to an 8 week old pup. "When the family was considering becoming involved, we filled out an application for the organization based on our lifestyle, based on what kind of family we are and what kind of lives we have. and they (Guiding Eyes For The Blind) matched us up with 8 week old puppies."

Mario and Monarch (photo courtesy of Collin Wright)

Currently, Collin is a student at UMASS Boston , majoring in American History with a minor in Spanish. He is also working with Alden. Alden is on his way to becoming a guide dog and new to the Wright household but is quickly catching on to each command. Assisting with training are Monarch and Mario, two dogs who were released from the program due to medical and temperament issues.

Mario, a yellow lab, Wright says,"was a bit too mellow for the Guiding Eyes program." Instead, the canine has in one sense, "chosen its own career" and has officially been certified a "therapy dog."

Monarch is a female German Shepherd who had to be released from the program for a vision issue. Each canine has its own personality. Some dogs are released from the Guiding Eyes For The Blind program for a variety of issues. Once released, yet they may go back to the puppy raisers and better placement for the puppies might be within a home such as in Wright's family situation or the puppies may be considered for other "careers" which might be to assist with police work ,the military or medical situations.

In a recent Zoom interview, Wright had just picked up Alden who was then introduced to the two older dogs who were released from the program.Wright likes to consider Mario and Monarch as "helpers" to "the "younger pup" in assisting with training.

Alden

Alden will later be evaluated to see if he becomes a candidate to be a qualified and certified service dog for those who are blind or visually impaired.

Wright is impressed with the skills Alden has learned and says "Alden is approaching the end of his time with puppy raisers, as he will be evaluated end of summer/early fall."

Wright explained that Alden has joined the household as the organization sends pups out on "sits" in order to acclimate them to different houses, lifestyles, and situations. "He spent the last week with me and is heading back home. He did a great job getting to know Mario and Monarch, and settling into our house, and learning what life in the suburbs is all about, since he lives deep in the city."

Dogs who are partnered with a handler come from a breeding colony from "Guiding Eyes For The Blind." Wright emphasizes that the organization has "its own breeding colony and own genetics to provide the best candidates for guide work."

Responsibility of Puppy Raisers

Once a person has made the decision to become a puppy raiser, he/she must realize the commitment and they must take their roles seriously. Wright says there is a step by step process as new puppy raisers take on the job. "They, (Guiding Eyes For The Blind) do evaluations of the puppies after 8 weeks and that gives them an idea of how they will fit into my life as a puppy raiser." The next step, he says,"is that puppy raisers also continue to evaluate the puppies, keeping their eyes on them and getting information on them so that we can get a really good match for a blind guide dog user."

Once the puppy raiser has gone through a 16-18 month time with the puppy, raising it to follow commands necessary for it to pass its evaluation, the puppy is once gain turned over to the organization. Puppy raisers are not responsible for the match itself. Instead, Wright says,"The school itself does "all of the matching for that.Guiding Eyes For the Blind" has a great team for that."

Wright and two others from the Eastern Mass. Region of Guiding Eyes For The Blind, Lisa Bumbalo (Collin's mother) and Lynn Stas (Eastern Mass. Region Coordinator) explain the situation further and direct those considering becoming future puppy raisers to the website where it states, "After leaving their puppy raisers, dogs are assigned to a guide dog instructor, who will develop a relationship with the dog through play, obedience, and general time together. The instructor will work with each dog for 3-4 months.Training is a continuous process that includes teaching the dog the concepts of guiding in small steps and building upon previous lessons with many of repetitions in a great variety of situations. Eventually, the dog understands and is comfortable with all aspects of guide work. A guide dog is ready for placement with a blind partner when the dog responds reliably and safely to all work situations it will encounter while guiding."

To the potentially new puppy raisers, all three say the part of the job that is most difficult is saying goodbye.

"Be prepared for emotional struggles when taking on the role as a puppy raiser."What starts out as a little over a year with the dog is just one part of the process as the dog and raiser become acquainted, learn from each other and then continue on to what becomes a career as a guide dog once the canine has passed its final test."

Reflecting back on his first experience with raising and having to hand over the first puppy he raised, Wright says there were so many emotional experiences from beginning to end, yet saying goodbye to the puppy he had raised was the most difficult of all . Wright affectionately remembers "Rumor," the training and the canine's departure from his home as he turned the dog over to Guiding Eyes For The Blind for the first time, "For clarification, it is usually 6 months between when we return the dog to Guiding Eyes For The Blind and when they are matched and graduate with a person who is blind. As I said before, it isn’t easy. We know at the beginning that it isn’t our dog, so we always have that (as puppy raisers) in our minds and we focus so much on the independence the dog will bring to someone with vision loss. There is always a lot of emotion as the time nears for the pup to go back in for (the next phase) training. It doesn’t get easier."

COVID-19 made the final stage of the puppy raiser's job even more difficult

"Things changed with Covid," Wright says,"in terms of seeing the dog again. We used to be able to watch their "In For Training" evaluation and see them afterwards. When the dog graduated, we were able to attend graduation and see the dog and meet their new partner. None of that is possible now, so we aren’t able to see them again. The graduate is given our contact information and many puppy raisers have nice relationships with the people who are working with the dog."

The Match

Puppy raisers are not present at the time that the applicant first meets their potential match. According to Wright,"We are invited to attend the graduation ceremony, which gives us the opportunity to see the guide team working together for one of the first times, as well as sitting down with the graduates and interacting with them. There are absolutely strong emotions, but seeing one of our puppies graduate as a guide dog is what brings the whole process full circle."

There is nothing but pride to be felt when watching a guide dog team work together, so it makes all the heartbreak, sadness, and effort worthwhile. Our family raised Mario, who was our first pup with Guiding Eyes for the Blind, but I took the lead on the second pup, Rumor. Rumor and I carried a really strong bond, and so naturally giving her up was going to be difficult. To make matters worse, we never had to part with Mario, as he was released and we adopted him. So when the time came to see Rumor off to the next stage of training, it was incredibly emotional and difficult to say, “see you later.” I will never forget after dropping Rumor off at the school, my mom asked me if I was sure I wanted to do it all over again, and through the tears there was no hesitation: “Of course I do.” To complete the circle, Wright says, "I was lucky to be able to meet Rumor's new owner who happened to be a girl the same age as me at the time, and interact with her family, which as I previously said, only confirmed my undying passion to continue this incredible journey."

***************************************************************************

The website for those considering becoming puppy raisers is www.guidingeyes.org

Wright also recommends taking a look at other links in which he and others form the organization Guiding Eyes For The Blind

We usually encourage people to read through the Puppy Raising information on the website under the Volunteer tab. If they decide that Puppy Raising might be a good fit for them they would complete an application on the Puppy Raising pages. And they can also email us at easternmaregion@guidingeyes.net

Other links include a High School Project in which he says goodbye to Rumor, along with other programs he and others have participated in with Guiding Eyes For The Blind

"The first one is a video project I did during my senior year of high school. At the 1:12 mark in the video, you will actually see a photo of me hugging Rumor one last time before sending her off to training."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx0g9s3FciE&ab_channel=collinwriight
The second is the segment on WCVB’s 5 For Good
https://www.wcvb.com/article/5-for-good-hanover-mother-and-son-volunteer-to-help-train-guide-dogs/22019228
This is a direct link to see the journey of a pup on program.
https://www.guidingeyes.org/dogs-and-puppies/journey-of-a-guiding-eyes-dog/

If interested in becoming a puppy raiser, contacts are listed below

Lynn Stas, Region Coordinator
(617) 852-5448
easternmaregion@guidingeyes.net
Lisa Bumbalo, Inquiries & Applications
email preferred
easternmaregion@guidingeyes.net