The Dogs with Wings Assistance Dog Society is in urgent need of volunteer foster homes for 11 adorable Labrador puppies.
“The puppies need to grow up in a normal home and we need puppy raisers to maintain their basic training,” said Lindsey Rudolph, canine program co-ordinator for Dogs With Wings.
Dogs With Wings trains the puppies to be guide dogs. The dogs may assist people with visual impairments or they may help people with mobility issues or they may help children with autism.
The Dog Assistance Society will host a volunteer open house Thursday, Sept. 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. at its centre at 11343 174 St. in Edmonton.
“It’s an opportunity for people to come out and volunteer and find out how they can give the gift of independence to someone in your community,” said Rudolph.
Currently 13 families in St. Albert are raising Dogs With Wings puppies. After the puppies are ready to leave their mother, at eight to nine weeks of age, the volunteers take them into their homes. Their volunteer commitment is 12 to 14 months.
“We take them in, teach them their name, housebreak them and teach them to socialize with other people. We take them to work with us,” said Judy Nickerson, who is raising a Labrador puppy named Louis. Louis is her second puppy from Dogs With Wings.
Nickerson works for St. Albert Husky. Before she took the puppy to work, she cleared it with her employer and the company landlord as well as with her co-workers.
“These dogs adapt very well. I take him everywhere with me, including grocery shopping. We even took him to a Harry Potter movie so he could learn to focus and not be bothered by the noise or chaos or by the treats,” she said.
Each volunteer must pay $50 for a harness and collar for the dog but all the other supplies, including food and veterinarian bills, are paid for by the Dogs With Wings Assistance Dog Society.
As part of the year-long commitment, the volunteers take the puppy to obedience classes once a week.
“But if you go on holiday, we have people who are like doggy babysitters, who will care for the puppy while you are gone,” Rudolph said.
When totally trained, these guide dogs are estimated to be worth $40,000. After a year in their puppy home, the dogs must move on for more formal training.
“You cry your eyes out for a week. I did not think I could ever do this again, but I missed having a puppy and I missed the people at Dogs With Wings,” said Nickerson.
Nickerson didn’t see her first puppy until three months after he left her home, as he was ready to graduate and officially become a guide dog.
“I went to the graduation ceremony. It’s like raising a child. You’re so proud of them,” said Nickerson.
She saw her first dog one more time, after he had been matched with a child with autism.
“That little girl was very non-verbal until she got the puppy. They had formed a bond and she had started laughing. She also would cuddle with the dog, which she wasn’t able to do with other people,” Nickerson said, adding that volunteering to raise a puppy for Dogs With Wings had been very rewarding.
“This is the best volunteer gig ever. You’re helping to change someone’s life.”
For more information about Dogs With Wings, visit www.dogswithwings.ca or phone 780-944-8011.
