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
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
WATCH Video shows dramatic police takedown of carjacking suspects chased through parking lot north of Toronto
Police have released video footage of a dramatic takedown of a group of teens wanted in connection with an attempted carjacking in Markham earlier this month.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
DEVELOPING G7 warns of new sanctions against Iran as world reacts to apparent Israeli drone attack
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
WHO likely to issue wider alert on contaminated cough syrup
The World Health Organization is likely to issue a wider warning about contaminated Johnson and Johnson-made children's cough syrup found in Nigeria last week, it said in an email.
Advocacy groups speak out against domestic violence comments by Nova Scotia minister
Several Nova Scotia groups that assist women are speaking out against comments on domestic violence by Justice Minister Brad Johns, and at least one is calling for his dismissal.
A couple lost their wedding rings during the ceremony. Two strangers found a fitting solution
Every good wedding has to have one teensy, tiny crisis.
'It was all my savings': Ontario woman loses $15K to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
Families to receive Canada Child Benefit payment on Friday
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.