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Raising Puppies and Passing Laws
Barry and Judy Koffel
- Published in: Update - Issue 2 - 2010
- Listen to Article
Photo caption:Barry returning puppy number two, Killian, to Leader Dog for training.
Barry Koffel remembers the day in 1996 that he and his wife, Judy, decided to become puppy raisers. The couple was visiting Leader Dog when Barry was District Governor for Lions District 14-R of Pennsylvania. They had been talking about becoming puppy raisers, but when they experienced walking blindfolded with a dog, they knew it was time. “Judy had tears running down her cheeks,” Barry recalls. “We decided right then that we would put in an application to start raising a puppy as soon as my year as
Governor was finished.”
Over the past 14 years, the Koffels have raised 12 puppies for Leader Dog. Their puppies have attended Lions council meetings, cabinet meetings, conventions, and other events – so much so that Judy became known informally as “the puppy mom” to Lions in their area. “We enjoy every minute of it,” Barry says. “You meet and talk with so many people because you have a puppy on a leash. People who wouldn’t ordinarily notice you will come up to you and ask about the puppy and the bandana. We’ve had lots of fun and enjoyment with it.”
The Koffels are also volunteer puppy counselors. Counselors provide a wealth of support and information to the other puppy raisers in their geographical area.
The Koffels helped pass a law in Pennsylvania giving service dogs in training the same rights as fully trained service dogs. They believe it is important for the puppies to be exposed at a young age to the same situations they would encounter once they were working as dog guides. With the help of the Harleysville Lions, they collected over 30,000 signatures in support of the law and enlisted their state representative and senator in the successful effort to get the law passed.
Is it hard to give the puppy back to Leader Dog once it is ready for training? “Very much so,” says Barry, “especially because the puppy goes everywhere with the raiser. You spend so much time with them so it is hard to give them back – but the reward is seeing what the puppy becomes and what it does for someone who is blind or visually impaired.”
Leader Dogs for the Blind salutes Barry and Judy Koffel for their tireless dedication to the school and the people we serve.