The puppy raising program provides a unique opportunity for volunteers to help create a meaningful change in someone's life. Born of carefully selected pedigreed stock, CCI puppies are reared in private homes from eight weeks of age until they are approximately 15 to 18 months old. Puppy raising is a critical stage in the development of a Canine Companion. Like young children, CCI puppies require basic needs such as food, shelter, and lots of love and attention to develop into happy, healthy adult dogs. Puppy raisers provide these needs and play an active role in molding their young, curious pups to become enthusiastic, responsive, and confident, ready to meet the challenges of becoming service, hearing, or social dogs for their future recipients.

Every rewarding hour spent training and playing with a puppy lays the foundation for a stable, dependable, and trustworthy companion to a person with a disability who is eagerly waiting for an assistance dog. By opening their hearts and homes, puppy raisers create the miracle called Canine Companions for Independence.

Puppy raisers ensure that their puppies are socialized and well-mannered. Puppy training classes teach basic canine skills and offer an excellent opportunity to make new friends for both puppies and puppy raisers. By being introduced to a variety of people, CCI puppies become steady, reliable, and confident in new situations and around strangers. This is essential to the success of every Canine Companion.

Play time is fun time and an important part of the learning process. There are many play exercises which will enhance a puppy's ability to work later in life. Exercise and play go hand-in-hand and are essential in promoting healthy physical and emotional growth.

Puppies, like children, require a certain amount of quiet time. While relaxing with the family, a puppy takes comfort in experiencing the special bond of love and friendship. Quality time spent with its puppy raiser prepares the CCI puppy for its lifelong role as a companion to a person with a disability.

Many CCI puppies accompany their puppy raiser to work or school. This accustoms them to various daily routines such as riding in vehicles or waiting, quietly and patiently, under a desk. Whether it's a short trip to the store, a vacation across country, or even a ride in a little red wagon, each journey prepares the puppy for future travels as a working Canine Companion.

CCI puppies sleep in the bedroom with their puppy raisers. This both intensifies the bond a puppy needs to develop toward its human partner and lays the foundation for a close working relationship. CCI puppies are actually training for their future roles while they sleep.

Throughout the year the puppy raisers are invited to show their CCI puppies in parades, at fairs, at fund-raising events, and sometimes even on television. This exposure to unusual and exciting sights, sounds, and smells enables them to work consistently in spite of distractions.

At the end of their commitment, puppy raisers return their dogs to CCI for six months of advanced training. Then, based on each dog's personality and natural abilities, CCI instructors carefully match them with prospective recipients during Team Training. These teams learn to work together during a two-to-three week training course which culminates in a graduation ceremony. At graduation, CCI puppy raisers proudly present the puppies to their new partners and ultimately share the miracle of their efforts and love.

Graduation marks a new beginning for each graduate and Canine Companion. This special partnership promises the ability to transcend cultural, social, and physical barriers through a relationship of love, respect, and mutual benefit. And for the puppy raiser, it means a chance to raise another Canine Companion for Independence and create the miracle anew.

You can click here if you'd like to see my ``Willie'' WWW page with pictures of current and previous CCI puppies I've raised.

• Puppy must live indoors and sleep in puppy raiser's bedroom.
• Puppy must be housebroken and instructed in in-house etiquette.
• Puppy raiser is required to attend regularly held puppy training classes provided or approved by CCI.
• Foster family shall pay veterinary and feeding expenses. (If you live close to a regional training center, you can use their vet.)
• Puppy is to be fed according to CCI nutritional specifications.
• Puppy should wear approved puppy cape when taken on outings.
• Puppy shall live with the foster family until approximately 15-18 months of age.
• Foster family must have an enclosed yard or kennel.
• Puppy raiser must at all times respect and love his/her CCI puppy.
• Visits to foster family's residence by CCI representative will occur periodically with reasonable prior notice given.
• Foster family agrees to return the puppy to CCI upon request.
• Should boarding become necessary, the CCI puppy must be housed in an approved kennel and/or its needs and personal safety must be provided for as indicated in these guidelines.
• Puppy raiser's age requirements shall be determined by the CCI representative. Parental consent is required if puppy raiser is under 18 years of age.
• Puppy raiser will be responsible for transportation of the CCI puppy to and from its regional facility.

Go back to the CCI home page.

Canine Companions for Independence is not affiliated with the University of California. This page is the personal work of Rusty Wright (rusty@groan.berkeley.edu).