Graduate Team: Joe and Garden
About the Team Garden, a female yellow Labrador Retriever, is Joe’s 3rd guide dog.
Location: Punta Gorda, Florida
Training: April 2026, On Campus
Joe is retired and lives in Punta Gorda, a sleepy town in a quiet area of Florida. He has had gradual vision loss for 30 years due to macular degeneration. Joe travels frequently to South Carolina and Ohio to visit family, as well as pleasure trips to various locations. Joe’s new guide dog, Garden, has proven herself as a competent and happy traveling companion, and Joe is looking forward to future adventures together.
How would you describe your guide dog? “Garden is a real tail wagger! She’s a very happy dog. She also listens to me very well. If I tell her to it’s time to do something and we go outside, I can just hold the leash and let her go. She has lots of toys and especially loves to play with her big bone. She is more outgoing than my previous two dogs and I really like that. Every dog is different and I’m so happy with her. I’m the kind of person who is outgoing and enjoys being outside, and Garden also enjoys the outdoors with me. I have a deep voice and she responds perfectly whenever I give her a command. It wasn’t that difficult to adjust to having a new dog because Garden is so good!”
What made you decide to apply for a guide dog from Guiding Eyes? “I didn’t have any other choice but to get a guide dog. I’ve spoken to other people who maybe wanted a guide dog but weren’t sure, and I’ve always recommended they take that step forward. I never considered any other place than Guiding Eyes for the Blind! Not even once. It has worked out great for me. I got Garden because my second dog, Marla became totally blind. I wanted to keep her as well, but I came to realize I couldn’t keep two dogs at one time. Thankfully, Marla’s Puppy Raiser was able to take her back. I brought Marla to New York, and she came and spent half a day with me and Garden. Seeing Marla happy really put me at ease and made me comfortable that this was the best thing for her. I’m so glad she had that relationship with her puppy raiser, so it was an easy transition.”
How has having a guide dog impacted your life? “I can go anywhere I want to go! Especially with Garden, because she is so outgoing. She listens to me and she is comfortable anywhere. She regularly goes on the plane with me and we actually just came back from a trip to South Carolina on the train. We had to do a bit of troubleshooting with getting off the train due to the yellow steps. Marla found this confusing, so I asked the conductor to remove the steps and then she got on the train perfectly. As for going on planes, she just sits on the plane like nothing happened!”
Were there any training highlights? “One thing that comes to mind was on the first day I had Garden, just getting used to working with her and how helpful everyone was. Even though Garden made it easy, I did feel the transition from my previous guide dog to Garden. My trainer, Kat was great! We also had a great group in our class. I would say, ‘Garden’ in my deep voice and these guys thought it was the funniest thing! It was fun getting to know everyone and laughing with them. We also did an outing to Michael’s, the craft store, and that was outstanding. Additionally, Garden and I went out with Kat on our own to work on some things and that was helpful. I also enjoyed being able to offer encouragement to my classmates who were getting their first guide dog.”
DOB: 2/3/2024
Litter ID: 3G24
Color/Breed: Yellow/Labrador Retriever
Gender: Female
Brood: Merijul
Stud: Wiggins
Littermates: Geo, Gidget, Garrett, Gumbo, Gracie
Region: Eastern MA
Regional Puppy Instructor: Lisa Bumbalo
Puppy Raiser: The Gall Family, Ruth Ladd
Facebook: Eastern Mass Puppy Raisers
Garden was a sweet and loving pup. In the morning when she came out of her crate she would love to lie on her back and roll around and get belly rubs for a couple minutes. She was also very very smart and loved to learn. I taught her how to clean up her toys and also she could distinguish different toys. I’ve included two videos of her cleaning up her toys. Our family adores her and we wish you both the best as you begin your partnership! ~ Cheryl Gall
Garden – what a girl! While with me she LOVED to play with other dogs, take hikes in the conservation lands around us, experience new places, and generally enjoyed life. As she got older, she progressed from visiting our local hardware store where the employees were delighted to have GEB pups come in to practice calmness around both customers and each other, to going to Boston College football and hockey games with all the attendant noise, food, and LOTS of people. Everywhere she went she was a hit! I even brought her to a memory care facility to visit with residents. She handled it with grace and a very happy tail! Garden was my 19th pup and no two have been the same – each has had different challenges and strengths. She was a pesty little sister to our released GEB dog, Lyric, but they always ended the days snuggled together. It is so satisfying to help a pup move from having to learn to stay out of the trash to being able to take her everywhere and trust her entirely in the house. Huge kudos go to Cheryl Gall, my co-raiser who always returned her to me having learned something new, and to Lisa Bumbalo, our RPI, who helped us work through concerns and challenges. ~ Ruth Ladd
