PUPS WITH PURPOSE
Area couple raises canines for Guiding Eyes for the Blind
SCHODACK, N.Y. » A local woman is giving back, not just to the community, but on a global scale.
Aimee Muller, with the help of her husband Dan, has spent the last seven years raising puppies for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Once the dogs are fully trained, they can be matched with a person needing services almost anywhere in the world.
“We first got involved because we both had family members who were losing vision,” Muller explained. “One day we were at Home Depot and saw a gentleman with a guide dog. We got to talking and found out that the dog was actually retired, and he had been waiting over a year for a new one.”
The Mullers discovered there’s a shortage of guide dogs, because there’s a shortage of people willing to train them. Wanting to help their own families and pay it forward, they reached out to Guiding Eyes.
“We have this piece of property with the space for it, we figured, why not?” Muller said. “We were going to train just three puppies — two for our families and one to pay it forward — but we got hooked.”
The Mullers’ current puppy in training is Wrigley, a 1-year- old lab with lots of energy and a people-loving attitude. Labs are the most common breed trained to be a guiding eye dog, followed by shep-
"Wewere going to train just three puppies — two for our families and one to pay it forward — but we got hooked." — Aimee Muller
herds, both purebreds.
These two breeds make the best guide dogs because they are generally sociable and easy to train. Labs specifically are very treat-motivated, and will train very quickly.
“We get the puppies when they are between seven and nine weeks old, and we socialize them,” Muller explained. “We take them everywhere and get them used to every kind of environment. They get exposed to things like stairs, elevators, big crowds, all kinds of things. We take them on puppy play dates so they get used to being around other animals too.”
The puppies are also trained to follow commands. Much of a guide dog’s “vocabulary” is based on basic commands and manners that most trainable dog breeds can learn. A successfully trained guide dog knows about 25 common commands. Puppies also have to learn to be comfortable with being handled, groomed, and examined by vets.
In addition to the everyday training, the puppies go twice a month to classes taught by the Guiding Eyes regional manager, Kate Gardner, and her coordinators. Gardner will observe the trainers and offer finetuning to improve the relationship between the puppies and their trainers.
The Mullers, and everyone else that raises and trains puppies, also receive training themselves. Before someone can start as a trainer, they go through pre- placement classes, training on how to raise a puppy, and puppy- sitting sessions to make sure they can handle the task.
All of the training is free, and all Guiding Eyes puppy trainers are volunteers.
“It’s a lot of fun - it’s super rewarding,” Muller said.
It will take until the puppies are anywhere from 1216 months old to complete the first part of their training, and Wrigley is no exception. During this time, Muller takes him to work with her every day. She is a nurse at Albany Med, and the environment there is perfect for a training puppy.
“There’s lots of people, and lots of objects for him to get used to like wheelchairs, IV hookups, and gurneys,” she said.
Muller is very grateful to everyone at Albany Med who approved of Wrigley, and all her Guiding Eyes puppies, coming to work with her.
“Fully trained, official Guiding Eyes dogs have a blanket permission to go anywhere,” Muller explained. “Puppies who are in training do not. I had to go through all the proper channels to get permission for the puppies to come to work with me. Fortunately everyone was very supportive.”
Training challenges for puppies like Wrigley include learning to understand that the rules at home are the same as outside. Potty training can also be very exciting. A big challenge comes not from the puppies, but from people who see them out and about.
“People will see Wrigley and want to run up and pet him,” Muller said. “It’s tough, because you don’t want to turn down an animal lover, but you want them to understand that he has to stay focused.”
Once Wrigley completes his puppy training, he will go to what Guiding Eyes for the Blind calls “school to choose his career.” There, Wrigley will get a temperament test to determine what career path is best for him.
Not every dog at Guiding Eyes school is a good fit for the program, but there are plenty of other placement options for them. Many dogs turn out to be very well-suited for careers in the police force, as sniffer dogs or as trained K-9 units.
Sometimes, it’s decided that a dog’s career is in the home and they are released from training. When that happens, the trainers that raised the puppy are given “right of first refusal,” which means they have dibs on choosing to adopt. If they pass, the dog is put up for public adoption. Dogs like this make excellent family pets.
The Mullers own two dogs they adopted whowere released from training. May was released from training due to a health concern, and Maise, who came from a different training program, did not have a temperament that was a perfect fit for the job she was being trained for. Both will sometimes accompany Aimee to work as therapy dogs.
Dogs that successfully find a career with Guiding Eyes for the Blind are spayed or neutered and put into formal harness training at the organization’s headquarters in Yorktown Heights, about two hours south of here. Harness training takes about six months, and during that time the dog is carefully matched with a person who needs their services.
Matches are based on personality, pace, and specific needs of the person getting the dog. Some dogs can handle multiple special needs.
After graduating from training and starting a career with their new owner, a guiding eyes dog is followed throughout its life by Guiding Eyes for the Blind. The organization tracks vet visits, physical development, and overall health.
A guiding eyes dog retires around 9 or 10 years old. The person it was matched with gets first option to keep the dog. Sometimes that’s not always possible — if the person lives in an apartment with a pet restriction, for example, they can’t have a retired dog and an active dog at the same time. In that case, the trainers who raised the dog as a puppy get next pick.
If they choose to pass, the dog will be put up for public adoption through a closelymonitored system to make sure the dog is going to a good home.
The Mullers love working with all of the puppies they’ve trained. More than that, they love knowing that the dogs will make a difference in someone’s life.
“It’s not as hard as some people think to constantly be giving the puppies up when they go to school,” Aimee said. “I love the dogs, but someone NEEDS the dogs. You don’t realize what an impact they have until you see them in harness, guiding their person, and it’s phenomenal and so emotional.”
It takes about $50-55,000 to prepare a fully trained guide dog, from raising the puppy to graduation day at Guiding Eyes for the Blind headquarters. Much of the funding comes from corporate sponsorship and donations, with some fundraising at the local level too.
The Capital Region Guiding Eyes for the Blind gets donations of food and supplies from businesses. Some vets will also give discounts for checkups and medications.
What’s needed just as badly as funding and supplies is people who are willing to do the job. Muller hopes that she can inspire others in the capital region to become guiding eyes puppy trainers like her.
“I love it,” she said. “And I don’t think I’m done yet. Even if I take a break after Wrigley from raising puppies, I’ll still be involved.”
A series of pre-placement training classes for people interested in raising guiding eyes puppies is coming up. The classes are held at the Lishakill Reformed Church on Central Avenue in Colonie. Classes are on Jan. 6, 13, and 20, from 6-8pm. They are free to attend.