Hudson Valley Woman Raises Puppies To Help The Visually Impaired

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, NY — One thing people need to realize about volunteering to raise puppies for Guiding Eyes for the Blind is that, eventually, you do have to give the puppies back.

That is something Alissa Phillips has done five times already, watching them walk away with another person who will train them to aid the blind or visually impaired.

And it doesn't get easier, in spite of the feeling of having done something good for someone else.

"Some people tell me I love them too much," Phillips, 23, told Patch.

"Giving them back is hard," the Yorktown Heights resident said, "to not have your sidekick with you."

Phillips is a regional coordinator for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, which has its headquarters and training center in Yorktown Heights.

The dogs are bred to have traits that will make them exceptional guide and service dogs, according to the organization.

The animals must be healthy, have good social manners and low levels of distraction and be confident in all situations.

Molly, for example, who is Phillips' current dog, is a 13-month, gentle, yellow lab.

"She is bubbly, likes to please and likes to be independent," Phillips said.

Her job as a dog raiser is to live with a puppy from eight weeks of age up until the dog is 16 to 18 months old.

"They spend day and night with you," Phillips said. "We support our puppies and encourage and take them to new environments."

Through their interactions with them "they are learning to make their own decisions," she said.

During the raising period, the dogs will learn commands and skills, such as accepting the use of a crate.

Because they will eventually be given to people who are visually impaired, the dogs need to have good house manners, like not eating out of the trash.

House training and eliminating on command are vital parts of the pup's education, Phillips said.

"We teach our puppies to go to the bathroom on command," she said. "They can't be eliminating while wearing the harness."

Phillips said Molly's elimination command is "get busy."

People for whom the dogs are trained must be legally blind and over the age of 16. They have to be able to walk outdoors regularly and independently using a white cane.

They also have to be responsible for the care of a dog and had orientation and mobility training.

The organization provides the dogs free of charge, including training, transportation to and from the school, room and board during training and follow-up services.

In the pre-coronavirus days, Phillips said the puppy would be going everywhere with the person who's raising them.

"It's different with COVID," she said. "We're not going many places."

But the goal is still to teach the puppy to be well-behaved wherever it is taken, which includes going into stores, movie theaters and other places of business.

During the raising period, the puppy goes to regular classes with a trainer who evaluates the dog's progress and then helps the volunteer correct whatever needs to be corrected, if anything.

Socialization is also a big part of raising a Guiding Eyes puppy.

"The puppies are not so much distracted by Guiding Eyes puppies, but are by other types of dogs," Phillips said.

What kind of people make good puppy raisers?

"We have people from every walk of life," Phillips said, adding that they range in age from teenagers to people in their 70s.

If someone is interested in volunteering to raise puppies for the organization, there is "one thing that is important for people to understand.

"Puppies will be puppies, and they are not robots," Phillips said. "Rome wasn't built in a day."

She said there are many ways to get involved with Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

"If somebody's thinking that raising puppies is for them, then go ahead and apply and learn more about it," Phillips said.

Andrea Martine, guide dog mobility instructor for Guiding Eyes, told Patch that puppy raisers are an incredibly important part of an entire community that works together to fulfill the mission for which these dogs were born: to become a guide and companion for a blind or visually impaired person.

"I truly believe the love and care puppy raisers devote to their puppies is carried with the dogs throughout their entire life," she said. "I am awed by their dedication and so grateful to get to know these unique and amazing people who give so much and ask so little in return."

Phillips said there are personal benefits to volunteering.

"I have a cute puppy sidekick for a year and a half," she said. "I've met a ton of great people through puppy raising."

Phillips said, though, when she turns her charges over for their next phases of life and training, it's never easy.

"Nobody else can understand the emotion," she said, "but it's really, really rewarding to see the result."

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