Puppies! Puppies!
What a delightful, heart-warming Canine Companion For Independence vocational tour was enjoyed by 6 Rotarians last Friday morning after the meeting! Thanks to Vocational Chair Patty Wolff and the warm welcome from Joan and Jim Buntin, we were able to step inside the puppies’ garage play enclosure and hold the 8 adorable puppies in our arms! The 6 yellow/2 black five-week old Labrador puppies greeted us with licks and nibbles on our toes! When Patty sat down on the floor she soon had 4 puppies in her lap! What fun for all of us!
After this wonderful “glimpse” into the training of Canine Companion puppies, I asked Jim and Joan to explain more about this amazing program to which Joan has dedicated so much loving care and training throughout the past 21 years. Here’s what Jim replied.
After this wonderful “glimpse” into the training of Canine Companion puppies, I asked Jim and Joan to explain more about this amazing program to which Joan has dedicated so much loving care and training throughout the past 21 years. Here’s what Jim replied.
“The breeder caretaker keeps the pups for 8 weeks. Their birth weights range from 8 to 16 ounces, and the litter size is usually 8 to 12 pups. The 8-week period includes some basic toilet training, socialization (visits by adults and children, belly rubs, petting, nail trimming, lying on the back, etc.). Joan usually works to have the pups “sit" before receiving treats as well. After turn-in to Canine Companions for Independence in Santa Rosa, the pups are weighed, given an ear tattoo with a unique number, micro-chipped, and given their puppy shots. They are then distributed to their puppy raisers, who keep them for about 16 months, giving basic training and socialization in organized classes and out in public. Some are actually raised by prison inmates in California (including Folsom and Stockton), Colorado and Oregon.
The pups matriculate to advanced training in one of six regional centers. Approximately 50% of them will be placed with people needing service dogs after a six-month advanced training period. The dogs go to people with disabilities other than sight; typically adults in wheel chairs, children with various disabilities, and adults needing hearing assistance. Some also serve as facility dogs in hospitals, schools and courtrooms.
In our case, because we are going on vacation, the pups will be turned in about 10 days early to Santa Rosa’s Developmental Center, where they will be watched over (and socialized) until their regular turn-in date.”
After the processing of the puppies in Santa Rosa, Joan will be picking up the little yellow puppy she has named “Felicity” to begin a 16 month training program. Imagine! This will be the 18th puppy Joan has lovingly trained!
