Graduate Team: Sandra and Vega
About the Team Vega, a black Lab female; Sandra’s 5th guide dog, 2nd from Guiding Eyes
Location: New York, New York
Training: August 2025 Home Training
Sandra is an experienced guide dog user living in bustling New York City. Born in Atlantic City, NJ, Sandra moved to Manhattan at the age of 4 and has lived in the city for over 80 years. She shared a house in Queens for many years with her late husband, but moved back to Manhattan after his passing in 2004. Sandra has since remarried, and she and her husband live in an apartment in Manhattan with her guide dog, Vega. Vega is Sandra’s fifth guide dog.
How would you describe your guide dog? “That Vega girl! She is so smart and learns everything so quickly. Vega is young, and I haven’t had a young dog in a long time. Sometimes, when I tell her to do something, she would rather go take a sniff, but we’re working on that, and she’s making good progress. When coming back home after being out, she enjoys guiding me and would rather stay out. There are a lot of things to catch her attention outside. – dogs, people, all the things to see when she’s looking around. Vega likes to play a lot when we’re at home, and she likes a lot of attention and follows me everywhere! She’s a great dog, and we’re doing so well together.”
What made you decide to apply for a guide dog from Guiding Eyes? “I lost my sight when I was in my 50s and got my first guide dog around that time. My first guide dogs were from another school. I had tried using a cane, but did not care for that. My previous dog, Ichabod, was my first guide dog from Guiding Eyes for the Blind and my first boy. His temperament was very different – he was more protective of me. For example, if I tripped, he was so concerned! If there was a crack or a hole in the sidewalk, he would always remember to guide me around it and would make sure I never touched it again! Back in 1964 or 1965, I had two career-change guide dogs as pets, Duchess and Fritz. I had sight then and never thought I would ever use a guide dog.”
How has having a guide dog impacted your life? “Having a guide dog gives me tremendous autonomy. If I decide I want to do something, I can just tell my dog to let’s go. Day and night, I can do what I want to do. Having a guide dog is just like taking a sighted person’s arm and having them lead you where you need to go. When I first lost my sight, I had to wait for someone to help me. I had to wait to go to the store and all that kind of stuff. I had always been so independent and never had that before. Although my vision was never 20/20, once you’ve fully lost your vision, it’s another story. Having a guide dog allows me to maintain my independence. Vega comes along with me whenever I go out, when I go shopping, or to the bank or to the doctor.”
Were there any training highlights? “I liked home training better. I didn’t have to get up early and be out with the dog. At the training facility, the day is all planned out, and there’s not as much time to rest during the day. I’m older now, so at my age, I’ll take home training! It’s now about 3 months since our training, which is not very long, and she’s doing great! My trainer, Shanon, and I are in touch, and she’s fantastic. She said I can stay in touch any time to let her know if I need to work on something. She told me not to worry, and if I need additional assistance, she will make sure I get it. We have a lot of construction around here, and they’re taking it all down, so it’s going to be a lot different. Once they finish, I’ll ask Shanon to come down, and we’ll walk together through the areas that have changed.”
DOB: 3/8/2023
Litter ID: 3V23
Color/Breed: Black/Labrador Retriever
Gender: Female
Brood: Guava
Stud: Arlo
Littermates: Verna, Viggo, Velvet, Vanilla, Verbena, Vintage, Voyager, Varsity
Region: Fingerlakes
Regional Puppy Instructor: Cassie Houghton
Puppy Raiser: The Kesel Family, The Tamis Lindenberg Family
Facebook: Fingerlakes Puppy Raisers
From the moment we met her, her caring and kind personality showed through. She spent most of her days with lots of kids and became loved by not only our family, but our community. We took her with us practically everywhere, from 8 hour car drives, to Home Depot, and even animal science labs in Cornell. Our favorite memory with Vega is on the first snow of the year when she was sprinting around the yard with her tongue out, tasting the snow. We loved our time with Vega and are so excited for the impact that she will make. ~ Zachary Lindenberg
