By Gillian Taylor | Staff Writer
Two Baylor students stepped up to the leash when the opportunity to train guide dogs for the blind appeared. Now, years after they first began volunteering, they encourage others to partake in the first steps of the guide dogs’ careers as puppy-raisers.
Puppy-raisers are volunteers who are responsible for teaching a puppy basic behavior and obedience, starting when they are approximately 8 weeks old and going until they are ready for more formal training at around 15 months old.
Kirkland, Wash., sophomore Bella Hayton and Grapevine senior Madeline Oliver both raised guide dogs prior to their time at Baylor.
Hayton said she began raising guide dogs when she was 8 years old. With her family traveling often, she said they didn’t want to commit to owning a dog throughout its lifespan. Inspired by their blind neighbor, she said her family began to look into raising guide dogs for the visually impaired.
After the dogs complete their training with the volunteers, they return to various guide dog campuses so that they can go from well-behaved, socialized dogs to professional guide dogs. Over the next few months, the dogs are taught various skills that will help them support a blind person.
According to the Guide Dogs for the Blind website, this stage is when dogs learn “intelligent disobedience,” which is to disobey unsafe cues from their owner. This can include refusing to lead their owner into oncoming traffic.
“We don’t teach them all of their guide work per se, but with puppy-raising, it’s a lot of all the groundwork,” Hayton said. “We teach them things like knowing how to heel and knowing all their basic commands.”
Oliver began raising puppies later in high school because she said she loved seeing how her volunteer work could impact others.
Though Oliver raised several dogs up until her freshman year of college, she said not every dog is successful in becoming a guide dog due to several factors, such as the canine’s behavior, training and personality.
Oliver said several of her dogs had a change in their career path, and only one ended up becoming a service animal, although the agency decided it would do best as a hearing aid dog.
“When they’re old enough and have all their shots, they can start going out into public,” Oliver said. “That’s when it gets fun. I started taking them to school with me or to the grocery store or just on my errands, so they can start being really well-behaved in public.”
Leslie Shepard, director of puppy-raising services at Southeastern Guide Dogs, said they are always looking for volunteers. She said through Southeastern Guide Dogs, they have “remote raising” in which volunteers can fulfill their twice-monthly required meeting virtually. Through the company, guide dog-raising can be done from any state.
“If you want to be a part of something bigger than yourself, learn new skills and make long-lasting connections, do it,” Shepard said. “It will change your life. You will have hope on four paws by your side. What other volunteer opportunity gives that?”
Though Oliver and Hayton went through Guide Dogs for the Blind, Oliver said there are many other good companies, especially in Texas. She said if anyone at Baylor is interested in becoming a puppy-raiser, they could easily get plugged in to do it.
For more information on raising guide dogs through Southeastern Guide Dogs or Guide Dogs for the Blind, visit https://www.guidedogs.org/get-involved/raise-a-puppy/puppy-starter-program/ or https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/puppyraisinginterestform.
