When my oldest son was in High School, he had a classmate whose family raised puppies for the Seeing Eye, the world's oldest guide-dog school, located in Morristown, New Jersey. The puppies were adorable but truthfully I could never imagine being able to surrender them after fostering them for about 18 months.
Of course, the flip side is being able to watch the puppies you raised enter their new lives as guide dogs. I can only imagine that it is incredibly fulfilling and of course, there are always new litters of puppies that need fostering.
It turns out that right now, the Seeing Eye is experiencing a bit of a "puppy boom" and is in need of foster families. The puppies become yours at seven weeks and you have to return them between 16 and 18 months. During the time they are in your care, you are instructed to expose them to the kinds of social situations they will encounter when they are working. To that end, guide dogs in training should travel in cars, walk city streets, visit shopping malls if possible and interact with other dogs and people.
Peggy Gibbon, senior manager of puppy placement, reports that many volunteers find the experience so rewarding "they do it again and again."
If your heart is up to the task, you can call 972-539-4425. Ext. 1769 or log onto www.seeingeye.org for more information.
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