Puppies in training: Calgary volunteers sought to help raise service dogs
A litter of eight-week old Labrador puppies will soon be hitting the streets preparing to become service dogs and Calgary volunteers are needed to help.
Pacific Assistance Dogs society (PADS) is seeking volunteer puppy-raising families and corporate sponsors to fund the care and training of each puppy before they are matched with someone in need.
Families are needed to love and train each puppy until they are 18 months old. The volunteer families will also help socialize the puppies by taking them with them everywhere including work, school, stores – even the movies.
“Who doesn’t want to have a puppy that gets to go with you everywhere?,” said Miranda Turenne a PADS dog trainer.
“So for me this is the volunteer opportunity that fills my heart and my life and I get to give back to people so it’s the best thing it’s ever done.”
Sponsors help fund this training which can cost up to $35,000 per puppy.
PADS is a fully accredited member of Assistance Dogs International. Its service dogs help people with mobility, PTSD or hearing disabilities achieve independence. This comes at no charge to the client.
A pack of puppies are all in training to become service animals and a Calgary organization needs volunteers to help raise them. (Supplied/PADS)
“They are opening doors literally and figuratively,” explained Turenne.
“They are normalizing life with a disability for a lot of people in our community who may even be feeling isolated, so the impact they have on our clients is incredible.”
PADS relies entirely on sponsors and volunteers to make this possible and is asking anyone interested in helping prepare this latest batch of pups to contact them.
The organization is also open to volunteers who can’t commit to a full 18 months, or prefer to help with puppies who are already leash and potty-trained.
PADS is also looking for a new home since its current space will no longer be available after April.
Families are needed to love and train each puppy until they are 18 months old. The volunteer families will also help socialize the puppies by taking them with them everywhere including work, school, stores – even the movies.
PADS is a registered charity, operating in Calgary since 1999. It also trains accredited facility dogs which work in the community with teachers, RCMP officer and psychologists.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
War monitor says Assad has fled Syria after rebels enter capital
The head of a Syrian opposition war monitor said early Sunday that Syria’s President Bashar Assad left the country for an undisclosed location.
Canada Post strike: Union 'extremely disappointed' in latest offer, negotiator says
A negotiator for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) says the latest offer from Canada Post to end the ongoing strike shows the carrier is moving in the "opposite direction."
Search for UnitedHealthcare CEO's killer yields evidence, but few answers
As the search for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer goes on, investigators are reckoning with a tantalizing dichotomy: They have troves of evidence, but the shooter remains an enigma.
Digging themselves out: With Santa Claus parade cancelled, Londoners make best of snowy situation
Londoners continue to dig themselves out from this week’s massive snowstorm.
Trump is welcomed by Macron to Paris with presidential pomp and joined by Zelenskyy for their talks
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Donald Trump to Paris with a full dose of presidential pomp for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral.
Groups launch legal challenge against Alberta's new gender-affirming treatment law
A pair of LGBTQ2S+ advocate organizations say they've followed through with their plan to challenge Alberta's three transgender bills in court, starting with one that bars doctors from providing gender-affirming treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for those under 16.
Canada's air force took video of object shot down over Yukon, updated image released
The Canadian military has released more details and an updated image of the unidentified object shot down over Canada's Yukon territory in February 2023.
U.S. announces nearly US$1 billion more in longer-term weapons support for Ukraine
The United States will provide nearly US$1 billion more in longer-term weapons support to Ukraine, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday.
New plan made to refloat cargo ship stuck in St. Lawrence River for two weeks
Officials say they have come up with a new plan to refloat a large cargo ship that ran aground in the St. Lawrence River two weeks ago after previous efforts to move the vessel were unsuccessful.