Meet Laura – Southeastern Guide Dogs Puppy Raiser
Troy and Laura Ledbetter smile while holding their 13th puppy, a black Labrador named Fuzzy.
“I have a bunch of different connections that led us to doing this—raising a puppy. My uncle was blind and he never had a guide dog. He always had a cane. It would have opened so many doors for him, if he’d had a guide dog. My grandfather sat on the psychiatric board for the Texas State School for the Blind. And I was teaching at a school in Garland and another teacher was raising puppies for Southeastern Guide Dogs.
We are raising puppy number 13—lucky 13. His name is Fuzzy. I teach second grade and they love him! They look at him like another classmate except he has hair and four legs. He’s included in everything: class pictures, the yearbook…and they cry when he leaves. It has taught them how to love and give back, and not receive anything in return except sloppy wet kisses. My kids know the routine—how to tell someone about guide dogs in training and what to do. They love him and they are passionate about raising him.
I tell them, ‘Thank you for helping raise him!'”
Puppy raisers Troy and Laura Ledbetter with Fuzzy, Garland, Texas
