Raising Future Service Dogs

I am 15 years old, and I would like to one day become a veterinarian.

Like most vet-hopefuls, I have had a passion for animals my whole life. Another passion I have is helping others (also like many other future vets.) Last year I discovered a program in which I can combine the two - service dog puppy raising.

I started applying to become a puppy raiser for Canine Companions for Independence last summer. Puppy raisers are volunteers who take a specially-bred future service dog puppy and foster it for around 14-18 months. Our job is to train the puppy house manners, 30 different commands, and socialize them to various situations and places pet dogs cannot go (i.e. grocery stores, movies, football games, restaurants, etc.) in order to prepare them for their future career as a service dog.

I currently have my first puppy for Canine Companions for Independence, a yellow Lab/Golden Retriever mix named Adobe V. He is seven months old and is expected to return to CCI for advanced training in November 2017.