DRUMS, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Wednesday is deemed as International Guide Dog Day, highlighting the crucial role canines play in helping people who are blind or visually impaired.
One local couple has been raising guide dog puppies for the past 17 years.
The Luzerne County couple has been volunteering to help raise guide dog puppies for almost two decades, and they say it continues to be an incredibly rewarding experience.
Summer, the Labrador Retriever, has a special job: she's training to become a guide dog.
She's in the capable hands of David and Kathy Orbin.
The Luzerne County couple has spent more than a decade as puppy raisers with the Seeing Eye, the world's oldest guide dog school based out of New Jersey.
Volunteers get the puppies when they are just seven weeks old to house train and socialize in public parks, restaurants, and stores.
"It's great fun, and we really enjoy doing it. We meet lots of interesting people and go in a lot of interesting places, and the puppies are just great pets," The Seeing Eye puppy raiser David Orbin said.
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At the Orbins' home, the puppies are greeted by their senior dog, Sally, a Seeing Eye alum who was later returned to the pair as a permanent pet.
Her owners say the puppies keep her active.
"She enjoys it sometimes. Sometimes they aggravate her, but it keeps her moving and I think helps keep her young," stated Kathy Orbin.
Unlike Sally, most pups have a short stay with their volunteers. After about a year, the puppies are brought back to the Seeing Eye headquarters to be formally trained, then matched with their permanent owners who are blind or visually impaired.
While returning the puppies can be sad, the couple says it's important to remember the canines will be companions to the people who need them most.
"We can't imagine because we see, but for somebody who can't see to have a dog like this that will be devoted to them and yet take them to places and get them safely to places, it has to be worth everything to them," Kathy Orbin expressed.
It's what keeps the couple coming back for more puppies and more meaningful memories made.
The Seeing Eye covers the majority of the costs of raising the puppies, and they are looking for volunteers.
