Pulteney Street SurveySpring 2019

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puppy

Nils leads the way down the stairs in the Gearan Center for the Performing Arts for his raiser, CJ Sturges '20.

It Takes a Pack

It may look cozy and calm from the outside, but the red Farmhouse on St. Clair Street is anything but peaceful. As the theme house for the HWS chapter of Guiding Eyes for the Blind, the Farmhouse is only quiet "when everyone's sleeping," according to April Moffett '21.

Moffett raises 10-month-old Odyssey at the Farmhouse, while housemate CJ Sturges '20 raises six-month-old Nils, both black Labrador retrievers. Nils' sister Nadine lives off-campus with Elizabeth Anderson '19 but pays frequent visits to the Farmhouse.

The HWS chapter of Guiding Eyes was established in 2018 by Katherine Valicenti '19 to promote working guide dogs at the Colleges while creating social bonds and building teamwork skills. Valicenti was interested in cultivating a community aspect of puppy training because, as she puts it, "it takes a pack to raise a pup."

Raising the potential guide dog pups is a big commitment. Members of the HWS chapter raise their dogs for 12 to 16 months, teaching them house manners and socialization skills. The dogs also attend puppy training class once a week with dogs from other local chapters. Each dog is monitored to determine when they will take their In-For-Training (IFT) test, an indicator of training aptitude. Those that pass the IFT go on to formal training with a guide dog instructor for up to six months; dogs that pass that training are then placed with a blind or visually impaired partner. It was Valicenti's "proudest dog-mom moment ever" when Nalani, the dog she and Anderson raised together, passed her IFT in the summer of 2018.

The puppies romp through the living room at the Farmhouse until their raisers corral them into their Guiding Eyes gear: a harness for Odyssey, bandanas for Nils and Nadine. Anderson notes that "exposing a potential guide dog to a college campus is very beneficial to them; it gives them lots of practice with socialization, settling through class and walking with distractions."

Guiding Eyes for the Blind was founded in 1954 in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. The HWS chapter is part of the Wayne County Puppy Raising Region, which encompasses Wayne, Ontario and Seneca Counties.