Puppy Story

How we became involved - Carmella & Janet

In 1975 Carmella was a 4-H leader for a small animal club. At one meeting a presentation was done by The Seeing Eye. That presentation made a big change in Carmella's life. Her daughter, Anna Marie, was thrilled at the idea of puppy raising. "Please mom, please can I have a puppy," she begged. Soon the first of many puppies was placed in their home. It wasn't long before Anna Marie's brother Michael had his own Seeing Eye pup to raise and, of course, before too much time passed, Carmella was the club leader.

Skip forward to 1980. A friend had a tiny golden retriever puppy when he came to visit his sister who lived by me. My fifth child and youngest daughter was very quiet and shy. Maybe raising a puppy would help bring her out of her shell. A little black lab was placed with Carol in January of 1981. Puppy raising did the trick. Carol became more out going, thanks in part to the hard work of her club leader. Ask Carmella about her signs with the word smile on them. A year later Carol had another pup and Dave her younger brother had her first of course after a few years , Carmella's co-leader moved out of county and I took over her position. Several years later due to a change of address and work hours Carmella could no longer raise puppies or be a club leader. Being witout a puppy was really difficult for her and she was finally able to take another puppy. I became the club leader when Carmella resigned and it is not until a few years ago that she was able to come back as co-leader.

The club has changed over the years but, our goal is the same as it was when Carmella first started- to raise a happy, healthy puppy well prepared for life as a Seeing Eye dog. The club has also grown- I remember the year we had a total of five puppies- now we average between 35 to 45 puppies at a time. Anna Marie and Michael now live across the country. Carol and Dave are busy raising families of their own and I have a grand daughter raising puppies( her mom never got a chance but now she is involved). but one thing has remained the same. Our puppy raising families are very supportive, helpful, and love what they do. They are great people. I remember how naive I was when we first started. I thought you recieved a pup raised it and it went onto be a working dog. What a rude awakening- Carol's first pup had cataracts. Of course by then we were hooked. Puppy #43 arrived in late September.

Carmella and I look forward to many more years of puppy raising and club leadership We can't imagine lif without a puppy.