When Christopher Erickson, EG 2002, was 9 years old, his parents promised him a puppy. Little did they know he would have 14 of them before he left for college. And, never once, would he see them grow old.
The puppies Erickson raised to young adulthood, all golden retrievers and German shepherds, were returned at age 1-1/2 to The Seeing Eye, a guide dog school near his home in Collegeville, Pa.
Erickson taught the puppies basic obedience, exposed them to a variety of social situations and provided lots of love and companionship. He helped lay the basic foundation the puppies would need when they became old enough to be formally trained as guide dogs.
"Turning the puppies back in isn’t hard," he explains. "You know how much good the dog is going to do for a blind person. Anytime we’ve seen any of the dogs we’ve raised working, they always have their tails held high or their tails wagging, sure signs that they are happy and proud of their work."
Erickson became interested in raising the puppies through involvement with a 4-H Club.