Welcome to Sofia and Quinlan's WAGATHON page!
Sofia Gallo
Sofia Gallo
When I was 18, I was matched with Karleen, who was by my side for nine years. She showed me what it is like to walk so fast it feels like flying, to love a dog like a pet and trust her like a teammate all in the same dog, and to watch her make everyone feel like her favorite person just by being her happy, wagging self. When she retired in 2022, I wasn't sure I could love another dog that much.
After Karleen came Kay — nine sweet, goofy months of jumping in circles and massage requests. Guiding wasn't the right fit for her, and Guiding Eyes stayed with me through that whole season with so much care. It's easy to support something when everything works. How they show up when it doesn't is why I'm even more honored to support their mission now.
Then came Quinlan.
At home he carries a giant plush lamb ("Lamby Wamby") in his mouth, uses my legs like a tunnel, plays tug of war, gets the zoomies, and quietly settles right next to me while I work.
Harness on, he's a different dog. A big black Lab who learned in a few days how to be a New Yorker — not pausing politely for everyone, but carving a confident path forward, fast and sure.
I think about what it took for him to walk like that and I'm in awe. Before I ever met him, so many people poured themselves into him. Volunteers who held and massaged him as a tiny puppy, a raiser who took him everywhere for a year and loved him unconditionally only to let him go, and a trainer who taught him how to guide with that same love and care. All of that love, layered, so that one dog can move through Penn Station at rush hour, a new airport, a crowded sidewalk in New York, even an unfamiliar city, like it's easy. So I don't have to brace for a walk or analyze every curb. I'm not hypervigilant. I'm not alone in it. We zig-zag through crowds without breaking stride, he holds our line straight when crossing the street so we don't drift, and he finds the stairs tucked to the side of a building and stops at the exact top step to show me where they begin.
This September, Quinlan and I are doing the WAGATHON. 26.2 miles at our own pace, anywhere, throughout the month, just by doing all the every day things that a guide dog makes so much less stressful: commuting to work, church, tandem biking, time with friends, with my mom and sister.
Even $5 gets someone one step closer to their own life-changing partnership, and allows Guiding Eyes to keep supporting alums like me and remarkable dogs like Quinlan.
Thank you for your support and for being part of this amazing work!
Sofia & Quinlan
After Karleen came Kay — nine sweet, goofy months of jumping in circles and massage requests. Guiding wasn't the right fit for her, and Guiding Eyes stayed with me through that whole season with so much care. It's easy to support something when everything works. How they show up when it doesn't is why I'm even more honored to support their mission now.
Then came Quinlan.
At home he carries a giant plush lamb ("Lamby Wamby") in his mouth, uses my legs like a tunnel, plays tug of war, gets the zoomies, and quietly settles right next to me while I work.
Harness on, he's a different dog. A big black Lab who learned in a few days how to be a New Yorker — not pausing politely for everyone, but carving a confident path forward, fast and sure.
I think about what it took for him to walk like that and I'm in awe. Before I ever met him, so many people poured themselves into him. Volunteers who held and massaged him as a tiny puppy, a raiser who took him everywhere for a year and loved him unconditionally only to let him go, and a trainer who taught him how to guide with that same love and care. All of that love, layered, so that one dog can move through Penn Station at rush hour, a new airport, a crowded sidewalk in New York, even an unfamiliar city, like it's easy. So I don't have to brace for a walk or analyze every curb. I'm not hypervigilant. I'm not alone in it. We zig-zag through crowds without breaking stride, he holds our line straight when crossing the street so we don't drift, and he finds the stairs tucked to the side of a building and stops at the exact top step to show me where they begin.
This September, Quinlan and I are doing the WAGATHON. 26.2 miles at our own pace, anywhere, throughout the month, just by doing all the every day things that a guide dog makes so much less stressful: commuting to work, church, tandem biking, time with friends, with my mom and sister.
Even $5 gets someone one step closer to their own life-changing partnership, and allows Guiding Eyes to keep supporting alums like me and remarkable dogs like Quinlan.
Thank you for your support and for being part of this amazing work!
Sofia & Quinlan
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