Barbara Blank and Thea Present Guiding Eyes for the Blind

Barbara Blank and her co-presenter of the four legged kind, Thea, shared with us the very important work being done by Guiding Eyes for the Blind.  Barbara is a trainer for the program and teaches puppies, for their first 18 months, basic commands such as sit, down, up, over, heel.....  She tells us the biggest part of the job is making the dog comfortable in social situations, including traffic and crowds.  The job entails fostering a brood or stud, walking the animal, keeping it in good shape and raising it until it is ready for more advanced training.

A chapter of Guiding Eyes for the Blind has started here in Sullivan County and prospective puppy raisers receive their dogs after three training classes.  Each dog will inevitably be provided to a person who is visually impaired at no charge.  By the end of the training, the dogs are deemed to be worth about $50,000 each.

The organization is completely funded by donations and is a 501C3.  If you would like to make a donation, you can send a check to Guiding Eyes and to assure that the money stays locally, put a note the states "For the Sullivan County Puppy Raising Region".  Checks can be given to Barbara.

We thank Barbara so much for sharing her good work and bringing her extremely happy and well behaved companion with her!