Elmo Learns A Trade
Elmo is a 5 month old yellow labrador retriever who is a bright and energetic puppy and is now in his initial phase of learning to learn a specialized and highly valuable trade. He is learning to become a seeing eye dog who may eventually become the "eyes" for a sight impaired person, enabling them to live a more productive and independent life.
Elmo was on a training walk through Westport Thursday night. He was in a puppy class along with his Guiding Eyes for the Blind volunteer puppy raiser Jared Malise who was also being trained by Maureen Hollis, regional puppy instructor for the organization.
Elmo and his puppy raiser Jared were working on a polite greetings with people they passed by who were delighted to show Elmo some puppy love. They had just worked on another element of his training, settling on a bench in a public setting so Elmo could learn how to ignore dogs and people passing by while remain calm and connected. Elmo is training to be a future guide dog for a sight impaired individual. Jared is a volunteer puppy raiser who has taken Elmo into his home to raise him till he goes in for formal harness training and is teaching him basic manners, obedience and socialization to human experiences for his first year of life.
Guiding Eyes for the Blind provides guide dogs to people with vision loss. Said Maureen Hollis, "we are passionate about connecting exceptional dogs with individuals for greater independence. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we provide all services completely free of charge to people who are blind or experiencing vision loss. At Guiding Eyes, we rely upon the contributions of our generous donors to fulfill our mission."
They are also currently in great need of puppy raisers or sitters in the Connecticut area and New York areas. Said Hollis "We could not complete our mission without wonderful volunteers like Jared and his wife Andrea helping us by taking our puppies and giving them the skills they need to make it to harness training!"
To learn more and to help this great organization visit them at www.guidingeyes.org or by calling 800-942-0149.
Photo By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com