While her academic focus at Ithaca College is English education, Lindsay Perrelli’s community service helps make life easier for the blind. The Hamden Hall 2011 graduate and now college senior has been volunteering for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Lindsay raised a prospective guide dog for the nonprofit organization committed to supplying blind or visually impaired men and women with highly trained dogs.

Lindsay explained she was among a handful of student volunteers to raise puppies for Guiding Eyes, which is also an official campus student organization. Guiding Eyes breeds all their dogs within the program, and the puppies are tested at 8 weeks old in order to determine whether or not they will do well in training. The puppies that pass the test are placed with a raiser, such as Lindsay. She was required to take a 12-hour course and attend several training classes before receiving a puppy. Once assigned a Labrador Retriever named Grainger, she attended weekly training classes him.                                                            

“The program is entirely based on volunteer work,” said Lindsay, “and while it covers all health costs, the raiser covers all other expenses.” Lindsay was willing to absorb the costs, as the end goal is to help a blind person. 

Lindsay explained that at the end of the puppy’s training with the raiser, they are admitted into “official training” and are tested again. By this time, the dogs are about 18 months old and worth about $45,000. If the puppies pass their “In For Training” exam, they’re put into guide dog training, or in some cases training to become heeling autism dogs or police detection dogs. In rare situations, a dog will not be well suited for any of these track lines, at which point they are either released back to their raiser free of charge, or sold.

 

            Lindsay initially discovered Guiding Eyes during her sophomore year at Ithaca.

 “I made a goal that before graduation, I would volunteer to make a difference in someone’s life, and Guiding Eyes for the Blind seemed to be the perfect start,” she said. “I began with the training course, learned about the challenges, and gained hands-on experiences. I was also required to host a guide dog in training at my home in Connecticut before officially being admitted into the program. I understood that training an 8-week-old puppy while studying at college would be difficult, but I thought there is no greater challenge than one that enables me to help others in need. This exact phrase was one that helped me through many sleepless nights with a whining, unsettled 2-month-old Labrador Retriever named Grainger.”                                    Lindsay added that Grainger was a special puppy, beginning with his name! Guiding Eyes for the Blind keeps track of their puppy litters by assigning a letter to every littler. Grainger was a part of the “G” littler, and all of his siblings also had a name that began with the letter G. However, Grainger is a special named-puppy, meaning that supporters of Guiding Eyes for the Bind can donate a minimum of $3,000 dollars to name a puppy.

“In this case, The Grainger Company donated $20,000 dollars to name Grainger, which didn’t add any additional pressure to Grainger’s success in the program,” said Lindsay. “I had the fortunate opportunity to meet and introduce Grainger to The Grainger Company last May, and one of the market managers of the company accompanied Grainger at the In For Training (IFT) exam in November. “

            Lindsay received Grainger in September 2013 and raised and trained him until November 2014.

“Grainger became a significant part of who I have grown to be, and for 14 months of my college career, life as I knew it had changed,” she said. “A large part the raiser’s responsibility is socializing the puppies until the day they leave for professional training. Therefore, Grainger learned to accompany me in my daily routines, including college classes and outings to restaurants and stores. What an adjustment it was to remember to bring a dog and treat pouch to the dining hall or library on a daily basis! Nonetheless, it was rewarding to watch Grainger’s behavior in public progress throughout our time together. By the end, Grainger was able to act politely in the dog aisle of the supermarket, which is quite the accomplishment for a 1-year-old Labrador!”

 

            Lindsay said that when puppies take their IFT exam, there are three possible outcomes. A puppy could get released from the program, which means that the trainers didn’t see potential for guiding, but could also become candidates for healing autism or police detection. On the other hand, a puppy could be admitted into harness training for four to six months until ready to be placed with a blind individual. Lastly, a puppy could be among the 2 percent of puppies that get placed on Breed Evaluation, in which case puppies are considered to be a stud or brood for the program. When Grainger passed his IFT exam, he was honorably placed on Breed Evaluation. Breed Evaluation is a lengthy process, one that occasionally lasts up to three months requiring an evaluation process where puppies are medically tested, the history of the puppy’s litter is considered, and the puppy’s behavior and personality are assessed.

The trainers determined that Grainger could potentially have a dual career, as he could possibly breed puppies and simultaneously enter harness training. Lindsay reports that Grainger has currently been bred twice at the Guiding Eyes for the Blind facility in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., and is expecting two litters of puppies in February and March. Grainger is currently staying with a foster family until Guiding Eyes for the Blind determines whether or not he will become an official breeding stud. Grainger’s puppies have to be evaluated first before his career as a breeding stud can be determined. Lindsay is eagerly awaiting the next update on “the dog that changed her life.”

            “Volunteering is a rewarding, invaluable experience, and Grainger has made me want to continue to offer my services,” Lindsay said. “In fact, I plan on traveling to Nepal this summer to teach English to children in undeveloped areas. While I was faced with countless challenges raising Grainger as a college student, Grainger proved to me that hard work pays off when he confidently performed during his IFT exam. It was in that moment that I knew Grainger was more than just a puppy I raised: he was someone’s set of eyes—a hero. “