FLUVANNA COUNTY, Va. β Karl and Kim Houseknecht never imagined where life would take them when their daughter needed to complete a project to earn a Girl Scout Gold award.
Their daughter connected with New York-based Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a nonprofit that trains and provides guide dogs to individuals who are blind or experiencing vision loss with no cost to the recipient.
"We did a total 180 and decided we were doing another one. So she raised a second dog, then our second daughter raised one, and then after they both moved out, we continued on our own," Kim said.
Since 2016, the Houseknechts have trained Wheat, Nirvana, Oriana, Topaz, Betty Ann, Gandalf and their current dog, a 15-month-old Labrador Retriever named Sparky.
The couple first teaches the pups the basics out of their Fluvanna County home like how to sit and stay. They said it's easier if the canines are food motivated.
"That helps to teach them what you want them to do and what is not okay to do, and a willingness to want to be with you and to check in with you," Kim said.
They also expose the future guide dogs to different environments like navigating a busy crosswalk or going to the grocery store.
"The pet aisle is a big one. That's a big test to be able to go down there and not have them go after bags of food or treat or anything," she said. "We try to expose them to like the things that a person who's blind would have to do, right?"
They recalled how life-changing Topaz, a female yellow Lab, was to a former runner who lost her eyesight and could no longer freely go outside.
"I think this is generally a problem that faces a lot of people that have vision loss. They become less active, and so that's a health issue, and also just a quality of life issue too," Karl said.
Not every canine becomes a guide dog as the nonprofit allows them to choose their own career suitable to their assets. One of the Houseknechts' pups joined an explosives team working with law enforcement.
Guiding Eyes has puppy raisers across 14 states: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Colorado.
Madeline Bruggeman, regional puppy instructor for Richmond and Northern Virginia South, said the nonprofit needs volunteers to help achieve their mission.
"People with various lifestyles, jobs, and home environments can raise a puppy. No prior dog experience is needed and Guiding Eyes covers almost all of the costs associated with raising a puppy," she said.
As September is National Guide Dog Month, organizers are currently looking for volunteer puppy raisers and puppy sitters in the Richmond and Charlottesville areas.
Puppy raisers take one puppy into their home and provide foundational skills, socialization, and care.
"All puppy program volunteers receive training and support from Guiding Eyes staff. We have a great group of local volunteers and would love to have more people join us," Bruggeman said.
In 2023, Canine.org reported about a global shortage of volunteers to care for puppies and dogs in training could severely impact the lives of people with disabilities, according to Assistance Dogs International (ADI).
"We're always looking for people that are willing to raise and train and sit dogs and volunteer at classes. There's just a bunch of different ways to get involved, and it's highly rewarding," Karl said.
The Houseknechts have no plans to stop volunteering either.
"We're not the youngest puppy raisers in our region, but we're certainly also not the oldest," Karl said. "I foresee being able to do this for a long time."
The volunteers welcome the guide dogs into their homes as young as 8 weeks old, but the Houseknechts called it bittersweet when they eventually must leave to serve their life's purpose.
"To hear the difference they are making is a feeling that I don't know that I could fully describe. It's kind of like teaching your children and then letting them go out in the world and help others," Kim said.
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