Emily and Patch

Meet Graduate Emily

Graduate Team: Emily and Patch
About the Team: Patch: male Black & Tan Lab; Emily’s 1st guide dog
Location: Cutler Bay, Florida
Training: September 2024 On-Campus

Emily is in her senior year at Florida International University. When she graduates this spring with her neuroscience degree, she plans to pursue her PhD and is looking into local and out-of-state schools. True to her pursuit of knowledge, Emily has a passion for reading, especially nonfiction, as she enjoys learning about new topics and people’s lives and stories. Emily also enjoys the adrenaline rush of fitness activities, roller coasters, and jet skiing. She is a big concert enthusiast who has attended four concerts this year, with a few more on the horizon for 2025. She is also very family-oriented and enjoys spending time with her loved ones, including friends she has known throughout different stages of her life – from elementary and high school to college and now her time at Guiding Eyes. While attending college, Emily lives with her parents and their chihuahua. She has an older brother, and a nephew and is looking forward to another who is on the way. Emily is a client at the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind, which she considers a second home. She’s volunteered there since she was ten and has been a speaker at events. It’s been rewarding to have those full-circle moments of teaching the children things she’s learned from the same programs.

How would you describe your guide dog? “One of my trainers said that Patch is like me but in dog form, and it’s true, even genetically. As a black and tan, Patch has a recessive allele, and with my condition, I also have a recessive allele. I was geeking out over that! Like me, he can be super chill but also energetic, playful, and social. Sometimes, he wants to play and be crazy and silly, which I love. He’s on campus every day, and at times people don’t even notice he’s there. If he has seen someone a couple of times already, he starts wagging his tail like, ‘Hey, I know you.’ But even in harness, he’s focused on doing his thing, not bothering anyone, and doing what he’s supposed to.”

What made you decide to apply for a guide dog from Guiding Eyes? “I’ve been wanting a guide since I was young. I’ve been preparing myself to get one by doing my orientation mobility, becoming more independent, and having more of a daily routine to work a dog in. I felt ready about a year ago, and Lighthouse gave me recommendations, including Guiding Eyes. The CEO encouraged me to apply because her guides had been from there. It was meant to be because now I have Patch.”

How has having a guide dog impacted your life? “A lot. Traveling with a guide dog is more freeing because you’re traveling with a companion, so you feel safe and not alone. You’re also not running into obstacles or feeling them with a cane. It’s so much easier walking around campus because I don’t have to feel for a specific landmark to know where the door is. Even at the library, he already knows where to go and takes me directly to the chair that I usually sit in. I don’t have to worry too much anymore because he knows what he’s doing.”

Were there any training highlights? “My favorite highlight was being at the different places they took us for training. Typically, it was a neighborhood or an area to travel around, crossing streets and finding curbs. At times, we would go to the mall, a restaurant, or Starbucks. Patch and I were taken to a college campus to train, and he was taught to navigate there. We were reinforcing skills, and that was an important and helpful highlight for me because we learned the basics, and now I am applying them.”

Meet Guide Dog Patch

DOB:  7/19/2022
Litter ID: 1PP22
Color/Breed:  Black & Tan/Labrador Retriever
Gender: Male
Brood: Zelda
Stud: Gerald
Littermates: Peace, Pluto, Parfait, Paul, Priscilla, Potter, Paddington
Region:  New Hampshire
Regional Puppy Instructor: Lisa Bumbalo
Puppy Raiser:  William & Alice LeBlanc, Amy Brodeur
Facebook: New Hampshire Puppy Raisers

From the Puppy Raiser…

Patch was the best dog I’ve ever had in raising 20 pups! Enjoy this special boy!  ~ Bill LeBlanc

Photos of the Team…