Assistance puppy fostering

[Barmbraic]

We've been long debating getting a dog. A friend has sent me a link to an organisation that trains assistance dogs which is looking for families to foster puppies for about 2 years until they start their training. We meet the major criteria but I wonder if it's a bad idea to know our children (9&11) would get attached and then have to give up the dog, even for a great cause. Has anyone any experience of fostering assistance pups?

I don't but I do have a 4 year old dog who I got as a puppy.

The first two years were very hard going. It isn't just the puppy months but the teenage phase as well. See all the threads in the DogHouse section for an idea of what it can be like.

What I am saying is that now he is an adult it has made those first hard years worth it. I wouldn't want to have gone through all of that and then had him leave before I got the best part

I had to give up my dog at a year and a half. It was heart breaking and an awful experience. It is not something I would ever want to have to do again. I admire the people who train blind dogs and have to give them away. They are admirable. But not something I could ever do.

I know someone who does this (and have met a couple of her charges)

She says it’s not like having your own puppy, as she has to follow a fairly prescriptive socialisation regime, with tasks to be completed each week (visits to specified places, certain commands practiced) plus (pre-Covid) some puppy training sessions with other baby guide dogs. You don’t get to choose how you train your dog (as they all need to have the same ‘knowledge’ for the next stage of training.

But it’s very rewarding if you like having a puppy/teenager around the place, and you get to take them everywhere (a trainee gets the same access permissions as the older dog who has started working). And I think all vets bills and insurance is covered.

And you might get first dibs on having the dog back for its retirement (if the assisted person cannot keep them when they get their new younger dog)

It is hard work being a puppy walker for assistant dogs. You will have strict training and guidelines to follow. It can be time consuming and you may find it constraining if you have children.

Ok, I'm glad I asked! I'm ok with the prescribed training, I like a bit of structure but I hadn't thought about going through the puppy and teenager bit and then giving them away before reaping the rewards