College Student Trains and Pairs Service Dogs With Blind Humans

• College student Morgan Kowalski trains dogs to become guide dogs for the blind.
• The dogs live with her to learn how to follow commands, behave in public, and socialize.
• After a dog graduates from the program, it is paired with a blind human.

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Morgan Kowalski of Ohio was not your typical just-finished-high-school-give-me-a-vacation teen. She had a desire to be involved in something “service related” after graduating and so she applied to train puppies with Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

Fortunately, she got accepted and started training pups as young as 8 weeks old to become guide dogs for the blind.  Her dream was coming true for this was not just a summer thing for her. 

Even now as a college student majoring in both education and biology, she still trains the dogs and even works at her community center. 

Morgan is one busy woman.

Her work as a dog trainer involves teaching the pups the basics.  This includes responding to commands like sit and down, socializing, and how to behave in public. Their live-in arrangement allows them to practice the dogs’ skills with other animals and humans around and go on errands with her.

Among the places that they frequent are Target and Marshalls.  But the dogs favorite is Starbucks for the delicious treats that they get!

Morgan recalls how she developed a tight bond with her first pup Becky which made it hard for her to part with her.  Morgan said, “I cried a lot when I left her, but she was happy, so I felt better.”

Becky was ready to go to the Guiding Eyes for the Blind center in New York. After graduating from the program, Becky got paired with a man named Erick.

She captioned an online photo of Erick and Becky with: “I couldn’t have picked a more perfect match.”

Morgan has done her job well. And you know what’s best with the Guiding Eyes for the Blind? The pairing service is for free!

Source: Inspire More