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Assistance Dog Puppy Raiser
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I have always loved working with puppies
and have trained all of our hunting dogs. However, it always seemed like a long
time between puppies, but that was remedied when in spring of 1998 I saw a news
program on service dogs in the Paws for A Cause organization. They focused on
the puppy raisers and their importance and that was enough for me. I contacted
Paws but they primarily service the eastern half of the United States and had no
puppy raiser programs for the Montana area. They suggested I contact Canine
Companions for
 Independence
in Santa Rosa CA which I did immediately. I told them I wanted to be a puppy
raiser and they sent me a long application to fill out. Then they did a phone
interview with me and finally did a home visit with the help of another local
puppy raiser, Betty
Beverly, who had already raised
many puppies for them. She reported back to CCI the next day with positive
comments and I was called that day and told me they had a puppy waiting to be
fostered. His name was Gareth and he was already 12 weeks old and needed a puppy
raiser home soon. I said “Yes!”. CCI flew him to Helena in August of 1998 and
thus began my career as a volunteer assistance dog puppy raiser.
I raised three puppies for CCI and then
switched to a smaller organization, Loving Paws Assistance Dogs, also based in
Santa Rosa, CA. My third CCI puppy, Kim II, was released from their program and
picked up by LPAD where she was in advanced training before being released as a
companion dog.
I then raised a gorgeous golden retriever, Joy, who returned to advanced
training on 1 November 2001. However, Joy became depressed without me and would
not eat, work, or play. LPAD released her back to me in December 2001. After a
period of readjustment, Joy began her career as a registered therapy dog.
 In
the summer of 2002, I raised the golden retriever litter mates, Tarka and Tring.
We returned them to LPAD in September 2002 for advanced training. While there,
we picked up Freedom, a 10 week old yellow lab, to become my seventh Puppy In
Training. I always try to overlap the pups I am raising as it helps me emotionally to
let go of the pup that has been with me for about a year and focus on the new
pup.
Despite the heartache associated with turning the dogs back in after having
their constant companionship for a year, I have found the work to be extremely
rewarding. To see a child in a wheelchair receive a dog is a heart bursting
moment and I have attended three CCI graduations and watched that process. In
addition to the satisfaction that comes from helping someone else, I have found
much spiritual reward in the association with these dogs who are bred to be
constant companions. I have also learned much about what it means to be confined
to a wheelchair and how valuable these dogs are to the people who receive them.
 Although
I shed many tears before, during and for some time after the turn-in of a dog,
the experience has been nothing but positive for me. Because the
puppies and their first year raisers are the foundation of these programs, the
number of dogs made available to handicapped people is dependent on the number
of puppies raised. There is always a need for new puppy raisers and I would
encourage anyone who loves working with puppies and wants to give back to
someone in need to become a puppy raiser.
 It is very sad to turn a dog
in after having it with me 24-7 for a year but then seeing someone like this
little girl get her dog makes it worth it.
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