Being able to change someone’s life is not something an individual gets the opportunity to do on a daily basis. But when Meg Abbott ’17 received permission to train a service dog for the visually impaired, she felt that through her work she would be able to do just that.
Abbott got connected to this opportunity through Guiding Eyes, a nonprofit organization that provides “superbly bred and trained guide dogs to men and women who are blind or visually impaired” and helps to “expand horizons for people to achieve life’s goals.” What initially interested her in training a dog was her desire to “gain insight in the future as I work with people who are blind or who have disabilities and need extra assistance.” In addition, Abbott said that this insight “may allow me to understand the kind of help they might need which will allow me to know how to better help them when I am working with them.”
Aside from training her own personal dog when she was younger, Abbott has had no experience in terms of training a guide dog. She isn’t receiving payment for the training; she is volunteering her time and resources to train Lizzie, the new puppy that is Gillette’s newest resident. Abbott is what Guiding Eyes would call a “puppy raiser”, someone who provides the puppy with “a home, teach[es] good social skills and house manners, attend[s] training classes and raise[s] a successful guide dog.”
Training Lizzie is difficult and time consuming. Laura Cunningham, Residence Director of Gillette Hall recognizes that. “I think Meg’s willingness to train a puppy shows how sweet and caring Meg is. Puppies are fun and cute, but they can be a lot of work and Meg is doing a great job,” said Cunningham. Abbott spends a good amount of time training Lizzie, if not all of her time. “I think something that people don’t understand about training is it is not necessarily something that you turn on and off, but it is a constant thing that is happening all of the time,” said Abbot, “so training in a sense is all day, everyday.”
Abbott had to receive permission to train Lizzie on campus from Student Life. Marc Smithers, Assistant Dean of Residence Life and Programming, and Cunningham both helped this become a reality for Abbott. Smithers said that Abbott was the first person to ever request something like this and he believes it was born out of Abbott’s “vocational desire that she has to be involved in animal therapy.”
Smithers is positive about the presence of puppies-in-training in residence halls, but was intentional about setting guidelines that “worked to place her in a part of her residence hall that wouldn’t be a disruption to the learning environment.” Things such as pet allergies were also taken into consideration. Cunningham is also optimistic about Lizzie living in Gillette because it the “perfect place for Lizzie to be exposed to people!”
Abbott does not know who Lizzie will end up with, but Lizzie will be placed once she reaches a certain stage. Guiding Eyes invites volunteers to their puppy’s “graduation” from the program and at graduation volunteers like Abbott are able to meet the new owners. “It really makes the whole experience worth it when I will be able to see my puppy going and working for a person and changing their life for the better through the work I was able to do with Lizzie” said Abbott, “The whole experience is really rewarding.”