York County volunteers help train future seeing eye dogs
A tall man in an orange shirt slows as he nears the door to exit Boscov’s.
“Are you in training?” asked Louis Mockewich, of North York Borough, as he leaned forward to get a closer look at the 12-week-old black Labrador puppy quietly waiting just inside the door.
“She is! This is Kirby,” said Sherri Adamson. “You are welcome to meet her.”
Adamson is a York County puppy club leader, part of a larger organization that breeds, raises and trains guide dogs. They also provide training in how to work with the dogs to their blind adopters. According to the nonprofit organization's most recent annual report, 229 Seeing Eye partnerships were created in 2025, having created more than 18,000 Seeing Eye teams since its founding in 1929.
Mockewich would also greet the 7-month-old Annie with co-puppy club leader Rebecca Geesey before continuing on his way. Adamson and Geesey would then find a cart and begin socialization training through the store, up the elevator and out into York Galleria Mall, taking in everything in their path.
From left, Louis Mockewich, of North York Borough, is introduced to 12-week-old Kirby by puppy raiser Sherri Adamson, of York Township, during an excursion at York Galleria Mall in Springettsbury Township, Thursday, April 30, 2026. Kirby may stay with Adamson until she is about 14 months old before returning to The Seeing Eye guide dog school, located in Morristown, N.J., where her future will be determined.
Adamson and Geesey, both of York Township, are puppy raisers for The Seeing Eye guide dog school, located in Morristown, N.J. The organization breeds its own puppies and then depends on volunteer puppy raisers to care for and train the puppies to get them used to the world around them before their official training begins.
Adamson first learned about puppy raising more than 23 years ago when she saw someone walking a puppy through the Apple Hill medical center (where she worked at the time) and inquired. She signed up immediately to become a puppy raiser and waited about 9 months before her family got their first puppy, a German shepherd. Adamson’s daughter would raise two puppies before graduating from high school. Adamson would continue to raise puppies, with Kirby being her 24th.
Puppy raisers get a puppy at 7-weeks-old and care for the puppy in their home until it is about 14 months old. It is the puppy raiser’s job to provide a stable and safe home, basic obedience training and socialization of the puppies in a variety of environments and situations to build confidence. This training includes regular attendance of monthly puppy club meetings and outings such as a pack walk at a local park or going to a fire station to allow exposure to the lights, sirens, oxygen masks and firefighters wearing their gear.
Puppy raisers Sherri Adamson, right, and Rebecca Geesey, both of York Township, walk their labrador pups Kirby, right, and Annie, as they work to socialize them to their surroundings at York Galleria Mall in Springettsbury Township, Thursday, April 30, 2026. The puppy raisers will care for the dogs until they are about 14 months old, at which point they are returned to The Seeing Eye for training in Morristown, N.J.
As the pairs make their way around the mall, they stop to let the puppies investigate everything from a wet floor caution sign to a bouquet of balloons on a display counter at Joseph Jacob Jewelers, where staff offered for the balloons to be set on the ground for the dogs.
“This is great socialization just coming here,” said Adamson.
The mall offers exposure to different people and clothing, heights from the second floor, an arcade, an elevator, shopping carts, mannequins, strollers and at this mall specifically, a casino.
Other prime locations for socialization might be a movie theater, bowling alley, or parks where there are children on the playground, flying a kite or playing a ball game, where the pups learn to have patience while just sitting. Also, unlike some dogs in training, the puppy raisers welcome running, screaming children because the dogs need to learn to be around all different stimuli without reacting, while remaining calm.
“Sherri’s (house) doesn’t have young children, so it’s good for their dogs to experience that because children all move differently,” said Geesey. “They’re little and they’re fast and they’re noisy and they’re sticky and they’re smelly,” she laughed.
“The more exposure they have, the better they’ll be able to do their job when they go back,” she added.
Becoming familiar with their surroundings is important, but the dogs must also learn behaviors. Walking in all kinds of weather and conditions is important. The puppy raisers walk in rain, snow, through puddles and over grates as part of their training.
“They could end up in New York City, where there are tons of grates,” said Geesey, “and they just need to know that they can walk over them.”
When leading a blind person, the dogs will also need to know when to walk around objects like garbage cans and flags, and how to exercise intelligent disobedience.
Adamson gives an example of someone waiting for the subway.
Kirby, a 12-week-old female labrador, naps while accompanying puppy raiser Sherri Adamson, of York Township, to York Galleria Mall in Springettsbury Township, Thursday, April 30, 2026. Kirby is learning basic commands and socialization before training with The Seeing Eye guide dog school.
“If you think the train is there and it’s not and you tell your dog to go forward,” said Adamson, “that could be catastrophic and something you don’t want your dog to do.”
The dogs are trained to evaluate the situation and, such as in this case, might turn their body to be directly in front of their person to prevent them from proceeding.
“These dogs make the final decision,” said Adamson.
The organization provides food, preventative care (for heartworm/fleas/ticks) and covers veterinary bills.
At about six months, the puppies are evaluated. If they meet certain criteria, they are eligible to receive a Seeing Eye Puppy vest that will help them get used to wearing something on their backs, such as the harness they will wear later in training. The vest also helps them understand that they are in work mode.
Then, at about 14 months, the puppies go back to The Seeing Eye for their health evaluation. First, it’s determined whether or not the dogs can be utilized for breeding. If not, they are spayed or neutered before being matched with a trainer. After four months of training, the dogs are painstakingly paired with students to ensure the best match and that process might begin with five dogs to one person. For example, they wouldn’t pair a slow walking pup with a fast walking teenager, according to Adamson. Ultimately, they want to ensure a bond is formed between the dog and its forever person.
If, for some reason, the dog would not pass an evaluation, they are offered to their puppy raisers for adoption and if declined, the dogs are offered to other organizations. Some puppies then become therapy dogs since they were bred to be working dogs. Geesey takes a pup that she has adopted to read with children at a library.
Puppy raiser Rebecca Geesey, of York Township, exits York Galleria Mall with Annie, a 7-month-old female chocolate labrador, in Springettsbury Township, Thursday, April 30, 2026. Geesey has volunteered as a puppy raiser with The Seeing Eye guide dog school for more than 10 years and Annie is her 16th dog through the organization.
As puppy club leaders, Adamson and Geesey organize and plan meetings and events while overseeing the dogs and families in their club. Recent outings have included THON fundraising events at area high schools, a multi-club outing to Longwood Gardens, and a pack walk at Springettsbury Township Park. They address training and health issues within their club and keep everyone up to speed with the organization’s expectations and training protocols.
“I have always wanted to do this … since I was little,” said Geesey.
As a child, Geesey read books about guide dogs. Later, as an adult with a family, including three sons, Geesey had a great dane that died. Afterward, Geesey determined not to go through the old age phase with a dog again, eventually convincing her sons to give The Seeing Eye a try. Her sons would go on to raise two puppies each before aging out of the program. Geesey has been in the program for about 10 years and has raised 16 puppies.
Annie, a 7-month-old female chocolate labrador, accompanies her puppy raiser Rebecca Geesey (not pictured), of York Township, during an outing at York Galleria Mall in Springettsbury Township, Thursday, April 30, 2026. Annie would be Geesey’s 16th dog through The Seeing Eye guide dog school in more than 10 years with the organization.
Both Adamson’s daughter and two of Geesey’s sons also qualified for a $1,000 scholarship toward their college education after raising their second puppy.
In 1942, the organization began partnering with 4-H and puppy raising became a 4-H family project where adults were required as supervisors in the home, but the students (age 9-18) were the primary puppy raisers. Eventually, the organization would open the opportunity up to non-4-H affiliated adults according to regional needs and resources and would establish independent community puppy clubs. All other criteria for becoming a puppy raiser would remain the same.
Geesey says there is a great need for puppy raisers.
Adamson and Geesey lead their puppy club meetings at the 4-H Clubs of York on Stoverstown Road in Jackson Township, and are happy to answer questions. They invite people interested in or just curious about puppy raising to stop by their next pack walk at Cousler Park on June 24. They will meet at playground pavilion E at 6:30 PM.
