Training to Change Lives

YELLSEA, AN 18-MONTH-old yellow lab, has spent more than a year by Ho-Ho-Kus native and Ithaca College junior Sydney Hogue’s side.

The pair go everywhere together: from the seemingly mundane, like the grocery store and classes during Hogue’s busy days as a double major in theater production and design/stage management, to the exciting: Disney World, Six Flags Great Adventure, hikes in and around “gorges” Ithaca and the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York.

No matter the environment, Hogue has one job: to raise, train, and socialize Yellsea so she’s prepared for her potential calling as a guide dog via Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a nonprofit organization that strives to connect exceptional dogs with visually impaired individuals to allow for greater independence.

Still, Hogue (and Yellsea, for that matter) couldn’t help but fall in love along the way.

One afternoon in the library of Hogue’s Ho-Ho-Kus home, the pair’s trust and connection is clear, as Yellsea looks to her trainer for guidance. The pup’s playful nature shines through as she greets a stranger (me). Hogue explains that she’s “off duty” and free to be a bit eager.

But if she were out and about and wearing her vest, she would understand that she was working and expected to be professional. At the time of our meeting, Yellsea was only about a month out from her training test, meaning she and Hogue would soon part ways.

“She’s 100% ready; she’s such a good dog,” Hogue says. “I have bonded with her for sure, but I did sign up for this knowing I wasn’t going to get to keep her and knowing she would change someone’s life one day as a guide dog. While yes, it will be hard, she will always have a special place in my heart, and I can look forward to the opportunity to raise another dog.”

As of this writing, Hogue is pleased to say that she was right: Yellsea passed her test and is now on breed evaluation to see if she is a good fit to be a brood and have litters of more future guide dogs. If not, she will move on to harness training as the next step in her path to changing someone’s life.

And while parting was bittersweet, Hogue didn’t have too much time to wallow; she went home that day with a new puppy to train: 12-week-old Venice.

A VOLUNTEER-DRIVEN ORGANIZATION

Guiding Eyes for the Blind, based in Yorktown Heights, New York. has a club on Ithaca College’s campus, which is how Hogue initially got involved. She saw their table at an organization fair and was immediately drawn to it. The canine-lover says she grew up with dogs and hardly remembers her home without a pup in it.

She started as a general body member and would attend events to help support the organization. Her stellar attendance earned her an invitation to become certified as a dog trainer. She jumped at the chance and started off as a sitter (watching dogs for trainers when needed) before getting Yellsea in August of 2024 when she was 11 weeks old and just 19 pounds (the dog now weighs in at 62 pounds).

Steph Serra, Guiding Eyes region coordinator for northern New Jersey, says during puppy sitting, Hogue got loads of experience with male and female dogs, labs and German shepherds (the two types of dogs Guiding Eyes works with), which fueled her desire to become a puppy raiser.

“Sydney is patient, gentle, and fair in her raising, which are all fantastic qualities to have in puppy raising,” Serra says. “As long as somebody is passionate and willing to volunteer, whether that looks like being a puppy sitter or raiser, Guiding Eyes welcomes them!”

Though raising a dog might seem like a lot of responsibility for a college student, Hogue says the environment and lifestyle is actually ideal for training. Campuses are generally walkable communities where dogs will have the opportunity to be exposed to many different types of places, people, and other dogs (offering both the chance to practice dog distraction and have built in playmates).

Hogue says a trainer’s biggest jobs are teaching pups house manners (i.e. no counter surfing, eating from the trash or drinking from the toilet) and socialization (hence the exposure to all kinds of people, animals, places, and sounds).

Since 1954, Guiding Eyes has thrived on the goodness of its local base of generous supporters, passionate staff and dedicated volunteers to meet the growing needs of the diverse community of people with vision loss.

“We believe in the powerful, meaningful change that our beautiful dogs bring to the lives of people facing the daily challenges that blindness and vision loss present,” the Guiding Eyes website says.

The nonprofit’s services are offered completely free of charge to those in need—a huge feat considering it can cost up to $50,000 annually to train and care for a guide dog throughout its working lifetime with a person who is blind, according to Guiding Eyes.

The organization has graduated more than 10,000 guide dog teams and says more than 2,000 volunteers, from Maine to North Carolina and west to Colorado, are vital to their mission.

A unique, relationship-based approach has trainers teach puppies essential skills in sequential steps.

“A trust-filled relationship develops when we are able to recognize our dog’s needs, respond in a way that helps them and do these things consistently,” the Guiding Eyes website says. “Puppies thrive in this type of relationship, building confidence to explore and enjoy learning.”

Hogue says she and Yellsea started their journey by taking a weekly fundamentals class with all the other puppy/trainer teams in their region, where she learned the basics like how to form a relationship with your dog and how to start socializing them. This is when forging that connection is key, Hogue says, and when Yellsea learned to “check in” with her to see if she needs anything.

Once they graduated, they moved to bi-weekly “big dog” classes, where they continued to receive support for any issues that might pop up.

Yellsea—whose name Hogue believes is a play on Chelsea, but with a Y since litters are named by letter of the alphabet—is highly food motivated, Hogue quickly learned. Some dogs aren’t and prefer verbal praise, petting, or toys.

Hogue says that most dogs will pass what’s called their In-For-Training (IFT) test, before moving on to either breed evaluation (for the most part, Guiding Eyes does its breeding in-house at their Canine Development Center) or harness training, where they will be matched with a Guide Dog Mobility Instructor who will train the dog tasks specific to guiding over the course of about four to six months.

While most dogs pass their IFT test, Hogue says, some are released during harness training due to behavioral or medical issues.

“It just means that this career wasn’t right for them,” Hogue says. “Guiding Eyes works with other organizations and usually dogs are considered for other careers. But if they do get released, they will become a cherished pet…and a very well-trained pet.”

Serra says the first two dogs she trained are currently active guides; puppy raising is incredibly important to her, and the community at Guiding Eyes is “like no other,” she says.

“Nothing compares to the feeling of attending your dog’s graduation, meeting their graduate, and seeing just how much they are loved and love their work,” Serra says. “The feeling is indescribable. Although I still cry every time I drop my puppy off for their IFT, seeing them flourish and grow into a working guide dog makes every tear worthwhile.”

Hogue agrees and adds that in training Yellsea to help a visually impaired person, she’s learned a great deal about disability laws. Educating others on them has been incredibly rewarding, she says.

“It feels amazing knowing I’m going to be a part of changing someone’s life in such a positive way,” Hogue says. “I’ve learned so much about blindness and the struggles that visually impaired people go through and accessibility. Being able to advocate for the visually impaired community is really powerful.”

BY SARAH NOLAN