Introducing Poncho

Black Lab looking at camera

As Ms. Danish shared in her letter to families this summer, “As this new year begins, I will be writing a story of my own with all of you as I welcome a puppy into my home and here at school from Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Introduced to me by alumni parent Jane Santy who has raised multiple puppies, I am honored to have a chance to foster and raise a Labrador puppy in the hopes that he might support a person without sight someday. Poncho the puppy will attend school every day and we will all be teaching him about the wide world and helping him to learn manners and habits that could support him in future work as a service dog. I am excited to see what he can accomplish and also what he can teach us about patience, consistency, and purpose. I hope that he will have some scheduled experiences at school where the children will read to him and also expose him to their energy and joy”

Poncho has slowly been introduced to Gryphons throughout the past few weeks. A recent Campfire was dedicated to learning all about Poncho. Ms. Danish shared about Poncho, the training and work she is doing with Poncho, how we can interact with Poncho, ‘Walks with Poncho’ that are coming soon, and even watched a video of Poncho at his very first swim lesson-he’s a natural!

To learn more about this wonderful organization visit the Guiding Eyes for the Blind website linked above. You can also check out a documentary on Amazon Prime called Pick of the Litter that follows a litter of puppies who train to become guide dogs for the blind.