For Luke Pellegrino, optometry school comes with early mornings, long clinic days and a guide dog puppy by his side.

Pellegrino, 25, is in his second year at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, and raises puppies for Dogs Inc, an organisation that trains guide dogs for people with visual impairments.

He said the work has deepened a passion that started before optometry school.

While in his undergraduate studies, Pellegrino spent a summer working at Dream Oaks camp in Parrish, Florida, “which is a camp for children with varying medical conditions, including low vision,” he exclusively told PEOPLE.

“I had worked as a tech in optometry before that, and while I was always interested in this field, I really enjoyed working with the kids with low vision and this is where my passion really developed,” Pellegrino said.

During one camp week, he spoke with a camper’s mother who wanted her son to “have a guide dog when he gets older.” She introduced him to Dogs Inc, which relies on volunteers to raise puppies for its programs.

Dogs Inc operates from a campus in Palmetto, Florida. Its website says the public can visit and buy tickets for guided tours and a Dog Skills Showcase. The organisation says, “We believe the people who need our dogs most should never have to worry about the cost. That’s why every guide and service dog comes with more than world-class training.”

Dogs Inc also trains service dogs for veterans, people with diabetes, first responders and their families, among others.

“When I started optometry school, I already knew I wanted to go into low vision, which is a very small subset of optometry,” Pellegrino said. “After I got through my first semester of optometry school at UMSL, I decided I would raise a guide dog. School is stressful and dogs can also make that much better too.”

After contacting Dogs Inc, Pellegrino was matched with Lori, a puppy raiser in Texas who takes care of dogs for the organisation from 8 to 12 weeks old. She first raised a puppy named Electra before Pellegrino began caring for her at 6 months old.

Electra later returned to Dogs Inc for more training. Pellegrino now cares for his second dog, Maverick.

“Since my schedule is so busy, Dogs Inc connected me with Lori, who did a phenomenal job raising Electra and Maverick as little pups and gave them the fundamentals they needed to adapt to my life,” he said.

“Every puppy raiser at Dogs Inc has an advisor who checks in regularly, monitors progress and milestones for each puppy, offers training support and video calls, and is there for any questions,” Pellegrino added.

He said seeing what guide dogs can do has made a strong impression.

“It is also amazing to see the things these guide dogs can do and how they restore independence for their person. Electra is in the guide dog program now, and I am so proud of her. Once her formal training is complete, she will be matched with a person with a visual impairment and change their life.”

Pellegrino said he brings Maverick with him throughout his day. They wake at 6 am and go outside, then head to the train at 8 am. He studies at UMSL from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm “with a few 10-minute breaks.”

“On campus, Maverick has a courtyard he plays in, socializes with other students and gets some time off,” he said. “The students love saying hi to him and he loves it!”

Pellegrino said classes are usually followed by lab and clinics from about 3 pm to 5 pm or 6 pm.

“After class, we go to lab and clinics from typically about 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. or 6 p.m., depending on the night. When we’re in clinics, we are seeing patients. Maverick gets really great experience being in a real clinical setting and seeing patients. When I had Electra, I was doing rotations and she had similar experiences as well, meeting people with gear and canes.”

He said Electra and Maverick adapted easily to his schedule, but handing Electra back for formal training was difficult.

“There is no stronger connection and you spend so much time with them,” Pellegrino said. “I spend basically 24 hours a day with my pup, never really leaving them alone. You build such a strong bond, and letting them go is so hard, but you can stay involved in their life.”

He said Dogs Inc sends monthly report cards once the dogs move into formal training, and posts updates on Instagram.

“When they go in for formal training, Dogs Inc sends you monthly report cards on their progress, and there is an instagram account where they show off what dogs are learning in training. Electra is in the guide dog program, and I am so proud of her. My family, professors and other students all love tracking her progress in ‘college.’ “

Pellegrino said the long-term goal keeps him focused.

“Knowing the big picture and how each dog will go on to change someone’s life is what keeps me going. And again, I understand the bigger picture of it. You can just tell each dog is destined for bigger and better things,” he said.

He also said there is a “misconception that there aren’t options for people who have lost vision or are visually impaired.”

Pellegrino said guide dogs are a valuable resource because they are independent, can “give confidence back” to their owners, and are “very loving and compassionate companions.”

“I would love for more optometry students to get involved in raising future guide dogs. I think it’s a great opportunity for optometry students to learn more about the low vision side and the visually impaired side of this field. There is so much to gain from this experience, and I’ve gained so much by raising these dogs,” he said.

“Many of my professors tell me they’ve never seen an optometry student raise a guide dog before. Yes, school is busy and it’s stressful but raising a guide dog is a wonderful experience and the dogs make the stress much better for my and my classmates too,” Pellegrino added. “Even outside of optometry students, I’d love for more people to learn about volunteer puppy raising and consider doing it to change someone’s life one day.”

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