My Nonprofit Reviews

We initially got involved with Guiding Eyes for the Blind in 2002. Two years prior, my 4 year old son had gotten severely attacked by a neighbor's Akita. He endured weeks in the hospital and months of recovery. Needless to say, he and his twin brother became paralyzing terrified of dogs. We realized that we needed to help our children overcome their fear of dogs, so we got involved with the Home Socialization volunteer program at Guiding Eyes for the Blind where we had the opportunity to take a few 6-8 week old puppies to our home for a weekend. At first my children remained fearful of the cute puppies, but the more we did it, the more comfortable they became around dogs. Afterall, who doesn't love a puppy? After participating in this volunteer program for a few years, we had the opportunity to keep the puppies over a long July 4th holiday weekend. When they left, our house felt empty, and we realized that we wanted to have a dog of our own. However, given our children's history, we knew we could not bring in an untrained or unpredictable dog. So we volunteered to be a foster family to a breeding dog. We saw this as a way to continue to be involved with an amazing organization, as well as a way to grow our family by having a dog live with us. And not just any dog. Breeding dogs are truly the best of the best, and we were honored to be able to provide a loving foster home to a dog whose job was to produce more guide dogs. That was back in 2004. Since then, we have fostered 5 breeding dogs. For over 10 years we had two breeding dogs, Eileen and Nilla, or "the ladies" as we affectionately called them. Any time we were out in public with our dogs, people would compliment us on how well-behaved they were and how well they listened to us. We never missed an opportunity to brag about who they were, their job and mission in life, and Guiding Eyes for the Blind. In 2019 both "ladies" passed away at ages 12 & 13. We were devastated and grief-stricken over the loss of our family members. By this time my children were both out of the home, and losing Eileen and Nilla made our house feel even emptier. But even as senior citizen dogs we always continued to maintain our connection to Guiding Eyes for the Blind, and a few months after their passing, we decided that we wanted to foster another brood. Enter Noni. Noni is a 60-pound dog who thinks she is a toy lap dog. Her favorite places to be, besides sitting on a lap, are hiking in the woods or swimming in any kind of water. Noni is brilliant, sweet, gentle, playful, and just a little bit stubborn. Noni brought such a sense of youth and playfulness to our empty-nest home. She keeps up with our active lifestyle, and we are forever grateful that we get to provide a loving home to Noni. We also never miss an opportunity to brag about her lot in life and how proud we are that she has been chosen to create future guide dogs. Noni has had three litters for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, and she has been blessed with having huge litters. We are currently doing home litter care for her most recent litter of 9 puppies (and 1 adopted from another brood who was unable to care for her puppy). Although we are the "volunteers" for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, we truly feel like we are beneficiaries of this incredible organization. For us to be able to welcome Noni and her puppies into our home, feels like such a gift they are giving to us. And just like when we bragged when we were out with "the ladies" or out with Noni, volunteering to do home litter care has given us the opportunity to brag, this time through social media, about Guiding Eyes for the Blind and the special work these 10 little puppies will do in their lives. Every time Noni is pregnant, we never forget that despite morning sickness, fatigue, loss of appetite, feeling fat, Noni is doing a job that will change people's lives. And to be able to play even a small part in that process is such a remarkable feeling. While we wish our son were never attacked by a dog, we are so grateful for the 20 year connection we have had with Guiding Eyes for the Blind, and the small role we played in countless number of puppies' lives as they began their journey and destiny to change people's lives.

Our family has been involved with Guiding Eyes for the Blind since 2002. We initially became involved after one of our twins was brutally and viciously attacked by a neighbor's dog, which required a prolonged hospital stay and multiple surgeries. Following the dog attack, my then 5 year old twins were terrified of all dogs. Our first level of involvement with GEB was for purely selfish reasons. We became puppy home socializers. We thought this would be a great way for our boys to overcome their fear of dogs. After all, who can resist a cute cuddly puppy! Our boys soon overcame their fear of dogs, and looked forward to the weekends where we could bring a few new puppies into our home. Those home socialization weekends brought so much joy and love into our home, as well as great "therapy" to help our boys overcome their fear of dogs. After a long July 4th holiday weekend where we kept puppies in our house for 5 days, our home felt empty after the puppies left. It was then that we realized that we wanted a dog of our own in our home. But it was also at that time that we realized how important it was for us to remain involved and connected with GEB. We signed up to become fosters in the breeding program. Having been open and honest with our story, we were matched with the most gentle, sweet, mellow, and confident young brood. Her name was Queenie, although her nickname was "lumpy head" because of a congenital bump on the top of her head. Queenie lived up to her regal name. She became royalty in our home, and our family doted on her to no end. During Queenie's first (and only) pregnancy, she suffered terribly from nausea and loss of appetite. Towards the end of the pregnancy we were hand-feeding her small bits of ground beef, just to ensure that she continued to nourish her puppies. After her delivery of a beautiful litter, Queenie's appetite did not resume. While in the whelping kennel, it was discovered that Queenie had a congenital kidney disease which was not picked up prior to the pregnancy. Queenie returned to our home after whelping her puppies, but she was discharged from the breeding program, and we were told that her condition would deteriorate quickly. We were sad over the prospect of losing Queenie, but we were also sad with the idea that we were no longer part of the GEB community. It was at that time that we made the decision to take in another brood. We were matched with Eileen, another sweet, confident, and loving young dog. Eileen and Queenie quickly formed a strong bond, and we truly believe that Eileen's presence in our home helped Queenie to hold on as long as she did. Almost one year after delivering her litter, Queenie let us know that she was done fighting her battle against kidney disease. Our family was devastated and felt the loss of Queenie in our home. The GEB breeding community helped us mourn and grieve, but also helped us remember how much joy Eileen received in having a pal in the home. A few months after we lost Queenie, we welcomed a spunky and lively Nilla into our home. Nilla was unlike any brood we had ever had. Nilla was a brilliant problem-solver. She would not have made a good guide dog, because we were told that Nilla knew she was smarter than the people and knew a better and quicker way to get things done. Nilla clearly had a mind of her own, and she reminded us of that when she escaped our fenced in yard, when she ate a chocolate cake off the counter, and when she climbed on the kitchen table to eat a bowl of pineapple. All of this within the first week of Nilla coming to our home! But Nilla brought a level of playfulness and high energy that we needed to help us mourn our sweet Queenie, and GEB diligently worked with us to perfect our training with Nilla and to re-establish rules and boundaries. And smart Nilla quickly became a wonderful addition to our home. Unfortunately, Nilla did not make such a great mom. With her one (and only) litter, Nilla needed some coaxing and encouragement to care for her puppies. With so few of her puppies passing their puppy tests, GEB decided to retire Nilla from the program. But Eileen went on to be a prolific breeder for GEB, producing 7 litters and at least 42 puppies. Several of Eileen's progeny went on to become breeders themselves, and still many many others became working guides. Some of our proudest moments were when we got to attend the graduation of one of Eileen's babies, as they began their own lives as guide dogs. Eileen and Nilla lived with us until the ripe ages of 13 and 14. They participated in all of our family events and milestones. They became known as "the ladies" in our home. When Eileen was retired from breeding at age 6, we were very sad to no longer be part of the GEB community. But we never forgot where Nilla and Eileen came from, and whenever and whereever we had the chance, Nilla and Eileen were the best ambassadors for GEB, showing off their impeccable manners and training, and giving us an opportunity to share with others their important life jobs. Nilla and Eileen passed away within 6 months of one another, and our home felt empty and quiet without them. Our twins were grown and out of the house, and my husband and I were dealing with having just discovered that one of our sons had an addiction problem. You would think that with all of that on our plate, the last thing we needed was to take on another dog into our home. That's what we thought too, but we missed our connection with GEB and we missed having a dog in our home, so we re-connected with our GEB friends, having been "retired" from the breeding program for almost 8 year. We were welcomed back with open arms. It felt like a homecoming to reconnect with the staff who had known us since 2002, and we enjoyed getting to know the new staff who had joined in the years since we were gone. We became Noni's fosters in August 2019. Noni is a playful, cuddly, snuggly, and loving 60 pound dog who thinks she is a small lap dog. Noni's most favorite place in the world is to curl up on someone's lap. That is, when she is not running around the woods or swimming in the ocean, her other two favorite things to do. Since living with us, Noni has had two amazingly large litters. Noni's second litter was born this past September. It was the first litter born to GEB since having to shut down in March due to COVID. Noni had 11 perfect little pups, and she brought back a renewed sense of joy and hope to everyone involved in GEB that the breeding program would continue, despite a global pandemic! We are so proud of Noni's role in life, and just as Nilla and Eileen became great ambassadors for GEB, we never miss an opportunity to tell people about Noni's life job and the amazing puppies she creates which will one day become guide dogs. I admit that we got involved with GEB for very selfish reasons, to help our children overcome their fear of dogs, but our involvement with GEB continues to enhance our lives each and every day. In the 18+ years we have been involved with GEB, we have watched them continually grow and perfect guide dog training, breeding, whelping, and even early puppy care. The work GEB does is nothing short of miraculous, and we are so grateful to play our small role in the amazing and incredible work GEB performs.