Mary Dell writes: When your kids were young, how often did they beg for a dog? Maybe your child resembled our daughter, who replied “a puppy” whenever anyone asked her what she wanted for her birthday or for Christmas. Though my husband and I are dog lovers, and have owned several Labradors during our marriage, we never succumbed to her pleas for the new puppy she longed to find under the tree. Instead, we discovered a different, and much more satisfying way to grant her wish.
When she turned seven our family became “puppy socializers” for the Guiding Eyes for the Blind (GEB), an internationally accredited guide dog school in Yorktown, New York. Since that June day when we drove home with Jennifer and Jonquil, our first pair of Labrador guide-dogs-in-training, our daughter began to learn about taking responsibility for young dogs.
As puppy socializers, we care for two, six-to-nine week old Labradors and treat them as if they are our own, but for just a few days. Once our shift ends, we return them for testing to see if they have the personality traits that could make them good (saintly, in my mind) guide dogs. Evaluating after home socializing has vastly improved GEB’s ability to predict which dogs have the right stuff to enter the next phase of training.
While I truly love hosting the Labrador puppies, they create chaos within their pen, which happens to be in the middle of the kitchen. But for our daughter, cuddling has always trumped the mess. Climbing into their fenced space, she hugs each new puppy, plays with both and often holds one until he falls asleep on her lap. She feeds and walks the pair and, ever so gently, places one into the outstretched arms of an eager friend.
But she has also had puppies chew on her fingers, and nibble on pajama pants legs. She’s heard them cry and yowl, loudly, for 45 minutes while we drive them home from the GEB breeding center She has watched them play with their water dish, drenching papers she has just laid down. She has walked them and brought them back indoors only to see them pee and poop, again, on those freshly laid newspapers. In sum, she has learned much about dog ownership. She has also come to understand another lesson. While playing with each new Labrador puppy – 30 by my count – she grew up learning about volunteerism.
Now that she is 17 and increasingly making her own decisions about how to spend her time (and money), she appreciates the importance of the roll-up-your-sleeves way to help others.
She absorbed this message while holding the leashes for Jennifer and Jonquil, Harriet and Hawaii, Una and Uncle, Mandrake and Moose and so many other adorable pups. As I think back on Christmas gifts past, I believe that one of the most enduring presents our daughter received was not delivered on any particular December 25th. Instead, she discovered (and we nurtured) a volunteer opportunity that allowed her little girl love of puppies to blossom into a more mature dedication to others less fortunate. In my dog-loving mind, this was way better than finding even the most irresistible Labrador puppy under the tree.
(Photo of puppies in their training harness courtesy of the Guiding Eyes for the Blind.)
Hats off to your wonderful daughter! What a creative and inspiring way to her grant her wish.
Thanks – little did we know when we first got involved that we would still be involved with the GEB. So rewarding when you stumble upon an activity or interest that your family embraces over a long time.
I love that organization and admire your commitment to foster puppies. What a wonderful model of volunteerism you gave to your daughter…I agree, better than a puppy under the tree.
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Emily, I know that we share with you a sincere interest in working with dogs. Puppy socializing has really been ideal since it is a short-term commitment that we have tended to do when the kids had a long weekend or during the summer. GEB has so many needs for different levels of volunteerism – this one works for us.
We are foster parents for the Warrior Canine Connection. WCC’s mission is to use soldiers suffering with PTSD to train dogs for wounded warriors. We are currently fostering Ruby, a 6 month Golden Retriever. Here is a blog post I wrote about our decision Being a Puppy Parent
Becky, thank you so much for bringing the Warrior Canine Connection to our attention – such a wonderful idea to help the trainers and those who receive the dogs. Looking forward to reading your post.
You should be so proud of your lovely daughter, and those puppies are so adorable!
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We are happy that she found this commitment. GEB is a fantastic organization that our family has come to admire more and more through the years. Agreed, too, that the puppies are just precious.
What a fantastic way to learn about volunteerism and responsibility. She will be well-prepared when she has her first pet as an adult!
Currently, we have a wonderful dog that we adopted when he was 2-3 years old – we’re not sure of his age. We have promised ourselves that we will adopt adult dogs from now on. The joy and love we’ve experienced with him has been so rewarding.
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Training a puppy has its pros and cons, as you know. You may be onto a good plan to adopt only adult dogs who no longer need to pull you down their house-training and chewing learning curve along with them.
I have never heard of this volunteer opportunity. How fantastic! Great post–your headline is perfect and your description of volunteerism is inspirational. (And those photos… I want a puppy!)
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truly – who can resist those puppies???!!!
{Kathy} What a beautiful idea! My kids (ok some of them) have always begged for a dog. They don’t even think of the not-so-fun parts of dog ownership–just the cuddles. I actually may look into this.
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Good luck – I hope you find a way to have your kids experience dog ownership so they can play with, but respect the messy parts, of puppyhood.
That is so wonderful! I will need to see if we have something like this in our area as my 6 year has been begging for a pup since forever!
There are only three really large guide dog schools in the country, as it has been explained to me, in NY, NJ and CA. I hope you can find a way for your kids to volunteer with animals in any way. We’ve loved it!
Wow that’s a great way to have a dog for a bit and help others as well. Such a nice thing for you and your family to do.
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We were lucky to find a volunteer activity that was a good fit for our family – it helped keep us committed.
What a great way to help your community. You must be so proud of you daughter! Happy holidays (:
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Yes, I am proud of her and so happy that she remains committed to Guiding Eyes. Not sure if a different project would have had the same outcome. Something about the puppies and their adorableness….
What a wonderful lesson to learn.
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What a great way to give back!
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This is so wonderful to hear! I hope my children get involved with something they are passionate about when they get older. If were something that involved giving back whether to people or animals that would be even better.
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The key for us was finding a good match for our daughter and our family – hope it works out for your children, similarly.
That is so great! What a great thing your daughter is doing, you should be so proud!
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This is also a terrific idea for almost empty nesters who don’t want the long term responsibility of a dog!
soo awesome!! Those puppies are just precious!!
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They are adorable, absolutely!
Those puppies are so cute!!! That is amazing!
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