New Project Will Combine Online Learning with In-Person Support

Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) aims to expand its pool of volunteer puppy raisers by embarking on a pilot puppy-raising initiative in March in Northern California. GDB’s Hybrid Puppy Raising Project team will be accepting interest forms until March 15, 2023, from people who live within 50 miles of its headquarters campus in San Rafael.

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A Guide Dogs for the Blind Labrador/Golden Retriever puppy is wearing a green puppy vest. The fluffy pup is smiling and showing her tongue. (Photo: Business Wire)

Unlike GDB’s traditional puppy-raising program, which is primarily supported by in-person meetings with a volunteer’s local GDB puppy-raising club, this new approach will offer support through a hybrid model of online trainings, webinars, and in-person workshops from the organization’s expert puppy-raising team. The pilot project is designed to appeal to applicants who may not live near a puppy club or who prefer to raise puppies outside the puppy club network.

Volunteer puppy raisers care for puppies from two to 15 months, nurturing them and teaching them good manners, while exposing them to a range of socialization activities to prepare them in their journey to eventually become guide dogs, K9 Buddies, or GDB breeder dogs. They return to GDB’s campus at 15 months for three months of intensive formal training by GDB professional trainers, before being paired with a person who is blind or visually impaired.

“The pandemic not only caused us to pivot to make more of our programs accessible online, but it also changed the way many people approach volunteer work in general,” said Christine Benninger, president and CEO of Guide Dogs for the Blind. “We are excited to engage volunteers in this new way to support our life-changing mission.”

GDB will host an introductory meeting to discuss the hybrid program via Zoom on March 16, from 6-7 p.m. Following this meeting, prospects who are still interested in being considered for participation will go through an onboarding process and receive a home visit from GDB. For more information, visit GDB Hybrid Puppy Raising.

About Guide Dogs for the Blind

Headquartered in San Rafael, Calif., Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) is the largest guide dog school in North America. It is a passionate community that prepares highly qualified guide dogs to empower individuals who are blind or visually impaired to move through the world more safely and confidently. More than 16,000 guide teams have graduated from GDB since it was founded in 1942. Over the course of 80 years, GDB’s mission has expanded to three kinds of programs: Guide Dog Mobility Program, Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Program, and K9 Buddy Program. GDB not only improves mobility for its clients, but it also furthers inclusion and advocates for policy reforms that change how the world views blindness. GDB’s services are provided free of charge, and it receives no government funding. The organization was the subject of an award-winning documentary feature called Pick of the Litter, which was developed into a television docuseries by the same name for Disney+. For more information, visit guidedogs.com, or call 800.295.4050.

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