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There are many people involved in producing a successful guide dog. Instrumental to this success are the 1,200+ raisers who donate their time and effort in caring and socializing and training guide dog puppies. A small but significant group of puppy raisers live in the Phoenix metropolitan area and are known as the Phoenix Guide Dog Raisers, Inc. This group works in affiliation with Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc. Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc. was founded in 1942 in an effort to assist wounded servicemen returning from WWII without their sight. A German Shepherd named Blondie was paired with Sgt. Leonard Faulk to become the first serviceman to graduate from Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc. Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc. utilizes Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds and Labrador/Golden crosses. Puppies of these breeds are born in the kennels of the San Rafael campus in California. When the puppies are approximately eight weeks old, they are ready to be placed with their raiser families. Guide dog puppies spend about one year in the home of the raiser family. During this year puppies learn appropriate behaviors for the home, and in public. They learn basic obedience, and raisers attend twice monthly training meetings with other raisers in their local areas. Raisers take their guide dog puppies with them to work, school, restaurants, shopping malls, movie theaters, baseball parks, basketball arenas, football stadiums, vacations, public transportation and a number of other places where a working guide may go. After a year the guide dog puppy returns to Guide Dogs for the Blind to begin the formal training of guide work. Upon completion of the five-six months of intensive training, the puppy, now a fully trained guide dog, is matched with a blind or visually-impaired student and this new team undergoes four weeks of extensive training to become a fine tuned pair. On graduation day the puppy raiser is afforded the opportunity to present their puppy to its new partner in an emotional ceremony for all. This special day is the defining moment of all the work the raiser puts into this new guide dog. Emotions run high, but as a result of the work and love you gave a puppy for a year a new team has been born. If you are interested in raising a guide dog puppy-in-training, please complete our "Puppy Raising Interest Form, or feel free to contact one of the Puppy Raising Leaders below:
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