Moxie
Most people don’t know a lot about me; we don’t know a lot about each other; we get to choose what we share with the world in person and online. So you might not know that I’ve spent most of my life surrounded by dogs. When I was nine years old, my mom got our family involved in 4-H and eventually we decided we were going to raise a Seeing Eye puppy. Now, over 25 years later, she is still doing it.
If you don’t know about the Seeing Eye, it is made up of thousands of volunteers who receive an eight week old puppy, then for about a year they will teach the puppy basic obedience commands, bring them to stores and cities for exposure into the world, and go to weekly club meetings training with other people in their area who are also raising Seeing Eye puppies. Once the puppy is about a year and a half old it will go back to the Seeing Eye, in Morristown, NJ, where it will learn how to guide a blind person in their daily life.
For a blind person, to be able to have a guide dog in their life is a huge source of independence.
So as a nine-year-old you tell me I’m getting a puppy, but then I have to give it away in a year? Yes. Our first puppy was a yellow lab named Ribbon. When we found out Ribbon was going to go back to the Seeing Eye, I’m pretty sure we received another puppy a few weeks before she left. And we continued that trend every year. It was the best!
Eventually my mom and my sister Kristin became the leaders of our Seeing Eye puppy club, Puppy Tails. Our family got a new puppy every year, and subsequently “gave her back,” each time welcoming a new fur ball to love. Kristin and I even had dogs at the same time for a few years.
I forgot to mention that a few of our puppies, including Ribbon, decided they did not want to work as guide dogs, and we got the chance to take them back home and love them forever! I kid you not there was a point in time that we had 7 dogs in the house. It was amazing.
When I went off to college, my (rejected Seeing Eye) dog Fajita, stayed home with my parents - and fell in love with my dad. And he fell in love with her. When she died, we were heart broken.
My mom kept raising puppies, and my dad kept loving on them. He would sit in his chair with the snuggly puppies curled up in his lap. He would take them outside to “park time” every 30 minutes while my mom worked in her sewing room upstairs. They would go out to lunch or dinner and the puppy would lay quietly at their feet under the table.
And though I don’t raise Seeing Eye puppies anymore, I never want to not have a dog in my life again. I need their love. I have a rescue dog named Maple Biscuit. When my dad died last year, Maple’s love was my comfort. It still is.
There are so many circles and lines in this story that I will leave untold for now. For the past several years, the Seeing Eye has put on a calendar contest, where you can vote for the photos of everyone’s Seeing Eye puppies. Each donation counts as as a vote, and if a dog has at least 5,000 votes, their “puppy raiser” gets to name a Seeing Eye puppy. Last year, so many of you voted for my mom’s photo and I am still so incredibly touched. Because of you, she will be naming a dog after my dad, Henry. Thank you.
In my loss, I have found so much love.
Thank you for being a part of my unwritten story. So much of who I am is because of your support, and because of my mom, my dad, my sister, my grandma. And alllllll the puppies.
❤️
I’m leaving a link below in case you’d like to check out this year’s calendar contest. My mom’s photo of her puppy Eleanor, named by a friend who won the chance to name the puppy after her own late mother. Below is written by my amazing mom, Linda Kabis:
The Seeing Eye 2024 Calendar Contest has begun! Please vote for the 33rd puppy our family is raising, female yellow Labrador/golden cross Eleanor! In the photo, she is yellow and holding a red heart that says “Free Kisses.”
This has been another year of big losses for me. My mom, Barbara Crawford, passed away in February. Friend, and Seeing Eye graduate Kristin Fleschner, whom I met through puppy raising, passed away in April. Both were inspiring in their own ways….my mom was 100 and cared deeply for her family and friends, would do anything she could for you, and was a grandma to all our family’s Seeing Eye puppies. Kristin was only 41 and lived her life with joy with Seeing Eye dogs Zoe and Daisy, enduring many challenges, but always advocating for equality for all with an amazing zest for life. If I’m able to reach my goal of 5,000 votes, I would like to name a puppy “Moxie” in their honor. A woman with moxie has force of character, perseverance, determination and is someone who gets things done.
Every vote counts, and you may vote as many times as you wish. For votes totaling 25 or more, I will make you a custom personalized dog bandana or a personalized bib with my compliments as a thank you for supporting The Seeing Eye. I hope Eleanor can reach one of the top eight slots to earn a color page in the 2024 calendar with your support.
Your votes/donation would be appreciated by Eleanor, the Kabis family and The Seeing Eye.
Every vote counts.
https://www.gogophotocontest.com/tsepuppycalendar/entries/426776#
Thank you,
Linda & Eleanor
P.S. Last year’s entry of Webb achieved 6,050 votes and earned her a color calendar page in the 2023 contest! With that number, I was able to name a puppy Henry after my late husband. I am still waiting for a Henry puppy to be born at The Seeing Eye. ❤️
UPDATE: thanks to many of you my mom will be naming a puppy “Moxie”, and has raised over $6,000 for the Seeing Eye. Thank you ♥️
