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Raising a Guide Dog PuppyRaising the puppyPuppy Raisers typically receive the pups when they are 7 weeks old and these pups stay with them until they are about 18 months old. Most of the puppies are from Guide Dog stock, which consists of about 40 females and 12 males. About 75% of the guide dogs are Labrador Retrievers, but they also use Golden Retrievers, Labradoodles (a mix of standard poodle and Lab) and Goldendoodles (a mix of standard poodle and Golden). The Puppy Raisers are responsible for teaching the dogs basic obedience and socialization skills. The Puppy Raisers take them almost everywhere including work, shopping and dining out at restaurants. Exposure to as many different situations as possible (construction sites, heavy traffic areas, animals, children) helps the puppy have fewer adjustments to make when it comes in for formal guide dog training. A basic course in obedience teaches the puppy to sit, down and come on command and to walk on a leash with the puppy raiser. At about 9 months of age the dogs go back to the facility in Sylmar for an evaluation. This includes a physical where they check out eyes, hips, and heart and hopefully receive health certifications. GDA evaluators also check on the puppy's social and obedience skills. When the dogs go back to Sylmar at 18 months for the start of their formal training, it is very hard on the dogs and their Puppy Raiser families. To help ease the transition that will one day inevitably take place (relinquishing the dogs back into the program they were bred for), Puppy Raisers "swap" dogs and periodically leave them at the Sylmar facility so that the dogs get used to living in a kennel and the people get used to life without the puppies they have raised. Formal TrainingOnce the dogs are matched with their future "people” everyone lives in dorms at the facility in Sylmar for almost a month. During that time they get to know the dogs and learn how to work with them and care for them. A guide dog's service career is typically eight years. They begin as a real guide dog at two years old and are usually finished by the time they are ten years old. Once a dog gets "burned out" on the work, they are retired. Retired dogs can remain with their owners, or their owners can pick who gets them next. If they are not assigned to anyone, they are offered to Puppy Raisers, sponsors, or people on the waiting list. And those that don’t make the program?Almost 50% of the dogs are not accepted into the program. Sometimes dogs showing certain skills may be earmarked for a career change such as search and rescue or drug enforcement. If not accepted, the puppy raisers get the first choice opportunity to take the dogs back; sponsors are offered the dogs next; and finally people on the waiting list, which is between five and seven years long, are offered the dogs. |
