Chek News Features BC & Alberta Guide Dogs – Call for Puppy Raisers!
Saanich resident Oliver Drew has been training future guide dog Coco for the last 14 months.
“Oh, he’s great!” Oliver says. “He’s a wonderful dog. They’re so smart and they’re so eager to please. They’re very happy dogs.”
As a volunteer puppy raiser for BC & Alberta Guide Dogs, Oliver gets lots of puppy love.
“It started because my daughter asked for a puppy for Christmas, and I didn’t want to take on a full-time dog,” Oliver says. “And it’s an opportunity to give back to the community, so it’s a win-win for my family.”
Volunteer puppy raiser Tammy Jones is on her fourth dog — and absolutely loves it.
“We lost our chocolate lab in 2020, and I thought, you know, try something different, maybe I’ll give this a go and see, and I just love the puppies so much!”
“We could not make these dogs happen for people with disabilities if we didn’t have our volunteer puppy raisers,” BC & Alberta Guide Dogs public training supervisor Shannon Graham explains. “Our puppy raisers really are the foundation of everything that these puppies end up doing.”
The puppies go on to become either guide dogs or service dogs for children with autism and first responders and veterans with PTSD.
“The demand is always growing,” Shannon says. “When people kind of understand the difference that these dogs can make for someone with disabilities, they just think it’s the greatest thing.”
That’s why BC & Alberta Guide Dogs urgently needs more puppy raisers.
It’s a 14 to 16-month commitment — but there’s training and support — and all vet and food expenses are covered.
“One of the great things about the organization is they help you learn, and they help train you,” Oliver says
“Go ahead and do it — you’ll never regret it!” Tammy adds. “You know that you’re doing something to contribute to someone’s life to make it better.”
Knowing the difference it makes, Oliver’s newest puppy, Tuxedo, arrived just before Christmas.
“He’s a bundle of energy,” Oliver says. “He seems to be the biggest of the litter, and he’s been great so far.”
As for Coco, he’ll have to leave soon for advanced training — and saying goodbye isn’t easy.
“That’s the hard part, yeah,” Oliver says. “Everybody gets very attached, and we love the dogs, and we care for them for a long time, and you get very attached, and they get attached to you, so that’s the hard part, but having the puppies overlap definitely helps.”
And so does knowing that Coco will go on to make a big difference as a guide dog for the blind.
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