Meet Holly Schneider and Guide Dog Peggy
Holly and Peggy with downtown Tampa behind them.
Holly Schneider worked as a corrections officer and for the clerk of courts in Brooksville, Florida, until vision loss forced her to retire. Glaucoma, diabetes, four corneal transplants, and “all kinds of surgeries” left her with very limited vision. After meeting a representative from Southeastern Guide Dogs at a National Federation of the Blind convention several years ago, she had discussed it with her doctor who said, “It’s really time that you should get a dog.”
Holly’s first guide, Oreo, passed away and now she’s been matched with her second, a playful yellow Labrador named Peggy. “Now I have independence walking outside in the dark again,” she says, “knowing that I’ll have a set of eyes watching me.” Holly enjoys walking and shopping on her own with Peggy.
“I’m happier,” she responded when asked how her dog has changed things. “Having a guide, a companion, and a best friend…I trust her.” Holly requested a smaller dog so she could more easily travel on planes, and with Peggy leading the way, she looks forward to flying for visits with grandkids.
Holly praises Peggy at a street crossing.
