Sunny at Viscardi Center, Year 3! Lincoln Moment; Willie before and now; Melissa, our unsung hero; Brooks & Gabi Shake
Lincoln Moment
Don't mind us, we're just practicing for our big boy vest. two black Labrador/Golden Retriever cross puppies from the Tennyson & Vero litter putting their front paws up on a training platform while wearing gray practice harnesses.
Melissa Harrington is in the process of raising her 21st puppy for the Guide Dog Foundation who is aptly named after our former Today Show pup, Sunny.SWAP, an acronym for "Sunny With A Purpose," is according to Melissa, a "'spicy golden' who brims with energy and personality but knows when she’s wearing her vest, it’s time to work." Melissa goes on to speak about her experience with puppy raising in her life, and states, "I think this is just one of the most fulfilling things that I’ve done.”
Puppy Love
From a sleepy pup to a savvy #servicedog in training, Arden is one of our many pups training towards becoming service dogs for our veterans & first responders in need
@nyislespup Tori’s pick is in We’ll soon find out if she’s right or not!
Willie Grows Up
Bonding: Seeing how quickly the bonds form between our new teams will never cease to amaze us; these photos were taken only 5 days after the two had met.
Brooks & Gabi are working on the cue “shake” which is a cue we teach all of our service dogs to perform. This allows the handler an opportunity to engage with the public that is more focused on the dog and less about their disability. This also allows the pup to interact with public but still offer eye contact and focus on their handler.
**As always, please admire working service dogs from afar. If you
a woman smiling as she hugs her yellow Labrador guide dog during their training on our campus.