Graduate Team: Maggee and Wegman
About the Team: Wegman, a male black Lab, is Maggee’s 4th Guiding Eyes dog.
Location: Manchester, New Hampshire
Training: August 2024 Home Training
Maggee is retired, having previously worked in retail and packaging. After a diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa, she was declared legally blind in 1980. Maggee finds pleasure in the kitchen, baking homemade muffins, bread, and cookies, and she makes a wonderful apple pie. She enjoys frequent visits with a friend in a nearby town, who is also a guide dog handler. Her friend has a fenced-in yard, so the dogs have a great time running together off harness. Maggee enjoys walking with her dog, shopping, ice skating, as well as spending time with friends, whether for brief visits or longer, such as a recent weekend at a cottage on Lake Winnipesaukee. Upon her retirement from guide work, Doralee, Maggee’s previous guide dog, was welcomed back by her puppy raiser in Maine and adopted. After spending time without a dog, Maggee is now enjoying the uplifting sense of partnership that her new guide dog Wegman provides.
How would you describe your guide dog? “When Wegman is off harness, he is a sweetheart. If you are on the floor with him, he tackles you, gives you kisses, and is very cuddly. He is a gentle giant. He loves puddles. He has one favorite toy, and he loves his bed. In harness Wegman is excellent. He likes to work and is very strong. He helps me with my balance issues so I don’t fall, and he can keep me going straight if I start to veer to the right.”
What made you decide to apply for a guide dog from Guiding Eyes? “My blindness is due to Retinitis Pigmentosa, and years ago I belonged to a blind support group. I met a girl there who had a guide dog, and we became best friends. I had always been an animal person, but one of the things that had held me back from getting a dog was wondering how blind people know how to pick up after them. She showed me and that was it. I applied to every school I could think of, and Guiding Eyes was the first to respond. I’ve loved all my dogs, and you get a lot of good support from Guiding Eyes. My friend passed away this year, and I was devastated.”
How has a guide dog impacted your life? “I’m very independent and there was a break between my last dog, Doralee, and Wegman. It was regaining the freedom to do things on my own again that meant so much. Having a guide dog keeps me from walking into things. I generally do a rural route with my dog, but when I need to go to the mall, I use Para Transit. Wegman is great. He ignores other people, and they generally leave him alone or stand back and say how beautiful he is. With my previous dogs, I used to put a sign on the leather harness that said, ‘Please don’t pet me or flirt with me.’ I like the new style harness, with ‘guide dog’, and ‘Guiding Eyes’ printed on it. Wegman is very good company for me and has a very calming effect. He is so sweet, and I feel safe. Without a guide dog, I might not do 80% of what I do now.”
Were there any training highlights? “My instructor, Ellin, was great. We walked around a route that is sometimes hard for me, and we were able to do the whole thing. I was really pleased that we did. We went to the mall and walked, and we went to a seafood diner and had a ball. When we were outside having ice cream, Wegman was such a clown, digging and throwing dirt and grass up on my legs. It was hysterically funny.”
DOB: 12/29/2021
Litter ID: 4W321
Color/Breed: Black/Labrador Retriever
Gender: Male
Brood: Viv
Stud: Dasher
Littermates: Walton, Woody, Whisk, Wafer, Winthrop, Waver, Winslow, Wrigley
Region: Orange County, Southern CT
Regional Puppy Instructor: Elizabeth Vacchiano, Maureen Hollis
Puppy Raiser: The Fisher Family, The Carney Family
Facebook: Orange County Puppy Raisers
Facebook: Southern CT Puppy Raisers
Wegman has a great work ethic. He didn’t like to wait for his turn in puppy class. He whined until he was able to get up and strut his stuff in front of the class. You could just see the wheels turning in his head. Very intelligent and eager to please. He loves giving kisses, snuggles, laying in front of a warm fire, and has the best “side eye”. Not a retriever by any means, lol, but loved learning to be a guide. He loved going on a hike at a disc golf course, going to work with me, and going to the mall with his buddy GEB Aron. My daughter, Aron’s mom, is blind so I loved being able to give back to GEB. I know first hand what these dogs mean to the blind community. My whole family will miss him but so proud of where he is today. ~ Kristine Carney