Puppies with a Purpose: ƹƵ students nurture, raise future guide dogs
Contact: Allison Matthews
(Video by Sarah Kirk)
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Students at Mississippi State develop dynamic skills, explore new interests and seize the chance to grow and learn. Many also find their passion—sometimes a co-curricular activity—and a chance to make a meaningful and lasting impact in Starkville and far beyond.
Students involved with Puppies with a Purpose, an ƹƵ student organization connected with the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind’s national volunteer network, are demonstrating not only their love for animals, but also their selfless service of time and dedication to help others who will benefit from their efforts.
Founded in 2021 by Maya Harlow, an animal and dairy sciences graduate from Ozark, Alabama, who now is a third-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine student, alongside Isabella Payne, now a second-year DVM student from Huntsville, Alabama, the club has quickly grown to more than 145 current members. Several hundred students have been members and attended meetings since the program began. Students from any college and major can join, and the group has three classifications of involvement—regular members, supporting the club and advocating for service dogs and their handlers; puppy campers, caring for dogs for short periods in the absence of the dogs’ raisers; and puppy raisers, committing to the 24/7 responsibilities of raising a puppy from about two months old, up to 12-18 months when they graduate to the next level of formal training administered through the Guide Dog Foundation.
Audrey Crocker, president of ƹƵ’s Puppies with a Purpose chapter for the last two years and a veterinary medical technology senior from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, joined her freshman year—the club’s inaugural year on campus—and the organization has been a huge part of her ƹƵ experience ever since. She is raising her second dog through the program, a standard poodle named “Donovan,” who is one of 27 dogs currently in the campus program. Almost 40 dogs have come through the ƹƵ program since its inception. Her first dog “Yogi” graduated and is now working as a guide dog in California.
“Letting go of Yogi was difficult. They become your best friend, so it is difficult to say goodbye, but it made it all worth it when I got to see him graduate. I got to meet his handler and see the difference that I made in her life—for her safety, her independence—it really just was so worth it. It heals that heartache,” Crocker said.
“The biggest challenge is the time commitment. It takes a lot of time to raise these guys—and a lot of patience. They come to us as puppies, so you do all the crate training, everything,” she explained.
She encouraged others interested to “jump right in.”