Paul celebrates his first birthday

     Last year in November, Hamburg Area High School welcomed seven week old Paul, the Seeing Eye puppy in training. He was born on September 25, 2021, at the breeding center for Seeing Eye dogs in Morristown, New Jersey. For a puppy Paul is a unique name, but the way the names are picked is also unique. How the Seeing Eye puppies get their names is each liter is assigned to a letter, then each puppy gets a name that starts with that letter. Paul’s litter was given the letter P, his siblings names are Pete, Pepper, Poppy, Precious. When these puppies are born, staff pet, play, and spend as much time as possible with them. At four weeks they are put into special play rooms and environment simulations. 

     When Paul was taken to his first vet appointment after leaving the breeding center, he weighed only 11 pounds now at his latest one year vet appointment he weighs 67 pounds.

      A fun memory that Mrs. McCarthy shares is “Everytime I would fold laundry, Paul would sneak into the closet and steal a slipper and chew on it a little.” 

     On Paul’s birthday this year he had a special lunch bone and had happy birthday sung to him.  

     While Paul may still be just a puppy he is very calm and well behaved while also learning a lot while still having puppy traits. Haily Quinn, a publications student, says her “Favorite thing about Paul is how sweet he is, and whenever I see him he is happy and wags his tail” and also “He is adorable.”

     For more information visit https://www.seeingeye.org/