Our Fosters
Granby
Izzy
Barnum
King
Zelda
Yale
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As most of you know - many of you have heard hours of my commentary - we have been quite committed to fostering guide dog and service dog puppies for several years. We joke that it’s “dog ownership with training wheels” but the true reason is that we are both fascinated with the process of training service dogs that make a big difference to another person's life.
The dogs generally are placed in foster homes when they are two months old and stay until they return for advanced training at ages 14 to 18 months. In between times we have outings with the other foster families, and attend puppy raising classes in the Portland area. The idea is to socialize the dogs to the world around them.
We don't do any of the advanced training for guide or service work. This is done after they return to their home organization at the end of the foster period. Our role is merely to raise them in a nurturing environment (stressing basic obedience and socialization), until they are old enough to handle the rigors of advanced training.
It’s true when the puppies go back for training, the house seems strangely quiet (and fur-free).
U.S. Postage, 1979