Graduate Team: Gail and Mimi
About the Team: Mimi, a female black Lab; Gail’s 3rd guide dog
Hometown: Jasper, Alabama
Training: September 2026 On-Campus
Gail is dedicated to helping others develop the skills, confidence, and independence to navigate daily life. She lost her vision due to optic nerve damage at the young age of fourteen, and now teaches self-advocacy skills to adults with special needs and provides braille instruction. Through employment contracts with the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services, she serves nine counties across the state. She also makes information more accessible by providing braille conversion services for a variety of organizations and corporations. Mimi is Gail’s third guide dog from Guiding Eyes, and she notes that Mimi may be smaller in stature than her previous guides, Finley and Tatum, but she is clearly up to the work. Tatum is now 12, and living out her retirement years with Gail and Don, her husband of thirty-one years. Tatum and Mimi have quickly become the best of friends. They live in the backwoods of Winston County, adjacent to Bankhead National Forest and a stone’s throw away from Clear Creek National Park, and Gail and Don enjoy fishing in their tandem kayak. Gail also enjoys knitting, a good book, and cooking in her free time.
How would you describe your guide dog? “Mimi is as sweet as sugar, has a huge personality and is always curious. When I am knitting or when I am busy with all the things I do, she loves to be nearby and place her paw on me. She’s just a clown and she makes me laugh. When it’s time to work, she is always ready. She is an excellent worker and particularly so when I am teaching.”
What made you decide to apply for a guide dog from Guiding Eyes? “In the very beginning I received a lot of good feedback from people. A friend adopted a retired guide dog and was very happy. I also heard about how they put so much into the puppy raising phase, and I was sold.”
How has having a guide dog impacted your life? “It has made it a whole lot easier to travel by myself for work and business, especially because my husband doesn’t like to travel as much. When trying to find an entrance to a large building or the door to a large room, Mimi finds the door easily and it just makes me feel more dignified when I enter knowing where I am going.”
Were there any training highlights? “There were five in our class. The instructors, Stephanie and Jenna, were both wonderful. We always received consistent training services. Our dining room server, Craig, was a lot of fun and so helpful and the food was excellent. The snacks provided by the kitchen staff completed the positive food experience.”
DOB: 8/4/2024
Litter ID: 6MM24
Color/Breed: Black/Labrador Retriever
Gender: female
Brood: Lucille
Stud: Enrico
Littermates: Milo, Mango, Mack, Mozart
Region: Monroe NY Puppy Raising Region
Regional Puppy Instructor: MeKalea Chambliss
Puppy Raiser: Susan Chamberlin
Facebook: Monroe Puppy Raisers
Special Recognition: Mimi was special named by her puppy raiser, Susan Chamberlin, in memory of her sister Kathy. Kathy was known as “Mimi” to her grandchildren, and they shared in puppy Mimi’s journey, greeting her when she arrived at Susan’s on their grandmother’s birthday. Susan shares, “Mimi brought happiness to our family while we continued to miss a beloved sister, mother, wife and grandmother. Now, as she graduates and begins her life as a guide dog, this special partnership brings joy to all of them.”
Mimi embraced life. From birth, she was a social butterfly – energetic, confident, independent, and raring to go somewhere, anywhere. I called her “Taylor Swift,” because she seemed to have fans wherever she went. Sweet, funny, smiling and eager to learn, she loved children, swimming, walking in the rain, family celebrations, and cuddles on the floor. Whatever was happening, Mimi wanted in. Mimi was specially named for my sister Kathy, whose five grandchildren called her “Mimi.” Amazingly, I picked her up on Kathy’s September 30 birthday, and that evening the children celebrated with a cake for “the two Mimis.” Mimi brought joy and created happy memories alongside treasured old ones. Now she and Gail begin their adventures together. I couldn’t be happier for both of them. ~ Susan Chamberlin
