A Willow Grove family transformed their home into a haven for Seeing Eye pups

From her office chair, Nicole Mumma can see everything. The mom of three can spy on her teenagers in her cozy kitchen and peek out the sliding glass doors in the dining room for hints of spring. Most important, she can check on her Seeing Eye-dogs-in-training that hang out near her feet.

“This is the command center,” Mumma said. Two dog cages sit steps away. A large dog bed lies near her feet. “I can see everyone coming and going, and I can have the puppies right next to me.”

Mumma, a former trauma therapist, yoga instructor, and stay-at-home mom, started training dogs during the pandemic. She and her daughter Luna worked with a comfort puppy at the nearby Suburban Dog Training Club. Then she started a playgroup for dogs.

“It was a godsend for me,” Mumma said. “I’m a people person, and I was having a hard time not being around people.”

A year ago, Mumma, who now works coordinating services to keep the elderly in their homes, sent an application to the Seeing Eye, a Morristown, N.J.-based guide dog organization, to share her background with dogs. A representative then visited her home.

“The puppy raisers don’t need to live in large houses with fenced-in yards,” she said. “[The puppies] have to be comfortable in crates and on trains and planes. The puppies are always right with me. They don’t get to roam free.”

Before separating from her husband, the family lived in a four-bedroom, 2,500-square-foot Colonial in Abington. In 2018, Mumma and the kids moved into the three-bedroom, 1,300-square-foot house in Willow Grove.

Mumma ended up selling some of her children’s things for the transition.

“I didn’t need all of that kid stuff. This was a smaller house,” she said. Between moves, the family stayed with a friend, but their dog couldn’t stay with them. “I remember worrying that I wouldn’t find a house that would allow me to continue with the dogs, like if we had to move to my parents or an apartment.”

When they moved into the home, they replaced the kitchen floor. Mumma let her 13-year-old son Rylan and his grandfather open up a kitchen wall and reframe it.

Behind her desk, Mumma lined the mantle with her oldest child’s college acceptance letters. Throughout the house, she hung photography of their travels and photographs of her grandparents from Armenia. She took a piece of molding from the old house that marked her children’s height.

Inside the landing hangs soccer and baseball equipment along with three Scout shirts ready for wear. In the living room, a portrait honors their family dog, Shanti, who recently passed away.

The Seeing Eye puppies spend their first seven weeks in a sterile environment and then move onto a home. After 12 weeks, the dogs can start visiting stores, libraries, and kid’s sporting events.

“We can go to the train station,” Mumma said. “We will take a three-hour visit to the Trenton Airport.”

At the moment, the family is training Sheila, an 8-week-old German shepherd, while Opal, a 10-week-old golden retriever, is staying for a few weeks. Their crates are located next to each other for comfort. Opal will soon move to another home, and Mumma will train Sheila for several more weeks.

Their first trainee puppy, Zen, did not make the cut for Seeing Eye, the oldest and one of the largest guide dog nonprofits in the country. Zen may be sent to a police dog program for her strong personality and instincts, or she might be adopted out, said Mumma.

“There is a long list people can sign up for a rejected Seeing Eye dog,” Mumma said. “Maybe we’ll see her in the airport sometime.”

Having room for the kids — and the neighborhood kids who come to visit — and the dogs has meant everything.

“When staying with a friend, I had to live without a dog and it was awful,” she said. “Every day I’m grateful we didn’t end up in a small apartment, that I can still build equity.”

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