Looking to volunteer with her three children, Leigh Goetzke signed her family up to raise puppies for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, an organization that connects individuals in need of a guide dog with the perfect Labrador retriever or German shepherd. Six years later, the Goetzkes have trained five puppies in their Annapolis home to sit, stay and follow unique commands that prepare them for formal training to become service dogs for blind or visually impaired individuals.

  Goetzke, a client relations account manager for Johns HopkinsHealthCare, stays in contact with their first puppy’s owner, who is blind, and has gained mobility, independence and confidence thanks to the now-6-year-old Lab. The owner shared that when she was in the path of a car that ran a red light, the dog reacted quickly and guided her safely to the sidewalk.“Our puppy has changed her life, and I am fortunate to have been a small

part of that change,” says Goetzke.