The nonprofit Guiding Eyes for the Blind has teamed up with Syracuse University to pair students with dogs training to become service animals for those with visual impairments. Syracuse has long served as a training ground for the organization, offering up the JMA Dome on campus for the puppies to learn how to guide humans through large spaces with stairs, elevators, escalators, and other obstacles. Syracuse professor Steve Kuusisto, who has a guide dog from Guiding Eyes for the Blind named Nira, wanted to expand the program to allow the dogs to be around more people and scenarios during their training process. Now, undergraduate and graduate students are able to become puppy raisers, where they socialize the pups and provide basic training before a professional trainer steps in to teach the skills needed to be a guide dog. The puppies accompany students to class and sports games, and have become a welcomed sight for students and faculty on campus.
Image via Guiding Eyes for the Blind
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