Vision Australia Seeing Eye Dogs are asking Aussies to give back this holiday season by becoming carers for the latest litters of Seeing Eye Dog puppies.
Each year, Seeing Eye Dogs breeds more than 200 puppies that enter the Seeing Eye Dogs program, providing life-changing support to Australians who are blind or have low vision.
According to Seeing Eye Dogs’ puppy development manager Jane Bradley, volunteer puppy carers play a vital role in preparing the pups for formal training and putting them on the right path to becoming future Seeing Eye Dogs.
“Puppy carers are an integral part of the training and development of Seeing Eye Dogs. Carers take puppies into their home when they’re about 12 weeks old and care for them until they enter formal training at around 12-15 months old,” she said.
“With carers, the focus is on the pups learning basic cues and socialisation skills; carers aren’t expected to have an extensive knowledge of dog training, but simply provide their time and love at no cost to them.
“We are there for our volunteers and the pups every step of the way. Our team provides everything the carers need, from puppy food through to covering vet bills and expert training advice.”
Not only do carers get to welcome an adorable Seeing Eye Dogs puppy into their home, they also get to feel good knowing they’ve helped to potentially change the life of someone who is blind or has low vision.
“The earlier we can place a puppy with a carer, the earlier they start learning the skills and behaviours needed to be a Seeing Eye Dog. Delays in placing puppies with carers have a flow on effect on the matching process between future Seeing Eye Dogs and a person who is blind or has low vision,“ Jane said.
“For many of our clients, a Seeing Eye Dog is their key to being an active and independent member of the community. Without the support of our puppy carers, we wouldn’t be able to train and develop the number of Seeing Eye Dogs we require to meet the needs of our client base.”
