Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind is seeking volunteers to provide loving homes for future guide dogs and assistance dogs in Cornwall, Morrisburg, Winchester, and surrounding areas.
The volunteer position is called “Puppy Walking”, but walking is only one element of the program. To be a Puppy Walker, you must be home most of the day or obtain permission to take the pup or dog to work with you. You require access to a vehicle to attend veterinary appointments and training sessions. This is a 12-18 month commitment, raising and training the dog in your home, with the expectation for daily long walks in all weather conditions. Your role is to raise a ‘good dog’ until it is ready to enter into formal training at the National Training Centre of Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind in Manotick, Ontario, at which time you must be prepared to give up the dog, so that it may continue its journey as a guide dog or assistance dog.
All food and veterinary expenses are provided by Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind. This volunteer opportunity is perfect for retirees. However, it is suitable for many other people as well, including families with a stay-at-home parent, part-time workers, shift workers with someone at home, business owners or employees who can take the dog to work, people who work from home, and college and university students. One adult must be responsible for the dog, but Puppy Walkers have included individuals, couples, and families with children. Past dog experience is an asset, but not necessary.
New litters are expected in the next couple of months. You can start the application process now to take a puppy when it’s convenient to you between July and the fall of this year.
Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind was established as a registered charity in 1984. Since that time, Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind has provided professionally trained guide dogs to Canadians who are visually impaired from coast to coast. In 2010, Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind launched an Assistance Dogs Division, which trains assistance dogs for individuals in the Ottawa area with mobility-related disabilities.
Puppy Walking applications are assessed on an individual basis. You can obtain an application for this volunteer position by phoning (613) 692-7777 or email info@guidedogs.ca.
CFN is looking for sponsors for Charities. If your business or service would like to adopt a charity please email jamie@cornwallfreenews.com or call our hotline at 613 361 1755
I think it would be hard to give up a puppy after you have been training it for a year and a half.
Agree, Reg…unless you’re able to take on another one soon after.
And, Reg, the pride and admiration you feel when you see that pup grown up, graduated and working alongside their new partner overwhelms any sadness. The bond is amazing!