Pennies for Puppies

Volunteer puppy raisers and their guide dogs-in-training from Guiding Eyes for the Blind visited Primrose Elementary for a special assembly with kindergarten students.

Each kindergarten student collected 100 pennies to represent the 100 days they’d attended school. Then, during their 100th-day-of-school celebration, students and parent volunteers counted and rolled the pennies. Once rolled, those pennies were ready to be donated to some very worthy pups.

During the assembly, a trainer from Guiding Eyes for the Blind spoke about the different ways they work with puppies to get them ready to be service dogs for people with visual impairments. Each guide dog and puppy raiser live and train together for 12 to 18 months. Their training includes many daily activities such as going to work, grocery shopping, and going to the doctor’s office. The puppies in training spend that time learning how to be well-behaved in all kinds of different settings and situations.

“All of the puppies that are here today are not guide dogs yet. They’re in school, just like you guys. They’re still learning how to be guide dogs,” said Monica, the regional puppy specialist. “They learn many different skills, like sit, down, and stay.”

Once the dogs complete their obedience training successfully, they move on to harness training, followed by more specific task-oriented training that focuses specifically on the needs of people with visual impairment.

Students from each kindergarten class listened to the trainers speak about their experiences and asked hard-hitting questions such as, “Do the puppies get to eat?” and “If we pet the dogs softly, will they be happy?” The answer to both questions was yes.

At the end of the question-and-answer session, the students sang a song for the puppy raisers and their dogs called “Magic Penny.” The puppy raisers then moved to different areas of the cafeteria so students would have room to visit the dogs. Students gave their penny donations to the puppy raisers and had the opportunity to interact with the puppies.  

It takes approximately $50,000 to raise and train a guide dog from puppy to the point it can become a companion and support to a person who needs it. The Guiding Eyes for the Blind is a non-profit and depends on donations.

“The kindergarten classes at Primrose donated 17,400 pennies!” said kindergarten teacher Melissa Maliniak. “That is 348 rolls of pennies, or $174!”