A year of service can provide a lifetime of independence

Jordan was 12 when she presented the idea to us: raise a 9-week-old Labrador Retriever puppy for a year, with the hope that it would grow up to become a guide dog for a visually impaired person. That was 2009, and our family was intimately familiar with the responsibilities involved with taking care of and training a young pup.

Jordan made her case, and it was hard to deny her the opportunity to give back and hopefully change someone’s life forever. We’d spent many mornings during the summer at Southeastern Guide Dogs’ campus in Palmetto, Fla. The puppy kennel used to host morning puppy hugging sessions, wherein the public could drop in, find a spot on the cold cement floor, sit cross-legged, then wait. That’s when the cage doors would life and out would run puppies just 6-to-8-weeks of age. Mid-morning was socialization and after we’d rubbed a blob of sanitizer on our hands, the love and cuddle session could commence.

Once she presented the idea, it took no time to say yes, and we found ourselves completing the puppy raiser application, scheduling a home visit and attending a few puppy raiser meetings to familiarize ourselves with the program. Then we waited.

Then, we received the call. Our puppy, born May 9, 2009, would be ready for us at the end of June. Then, we shopped. A crate, a new bowl, program-approved toys, food, leash and collar. We were ready to welcome our pup. We knew nothing. Would we get a boy or a girl? Would he or she be yellow, chocolate or black?

We picked up puppy Jim and loved him for a little more than a year. He went to work with me at Creative Clay, where he slept in my office, greeted gallery patrons and the artists who spent their days painting and creating. He shopped, dined, traveled and played with us. He learned, grew and captured our hearts.

Ten years later, we’ve raised 10 guide dogs, and five have become working guides. Two of them were career-changed (there are no failures) due to minor health issues, others are family pets and Southeastern Ambassadors and one is a Gold Star Family Dog. That means that Hope, our 9th pup, was placed with a family specifically with a 7-year-old boy who lost his father in Afghanistan when he was just 8 weeks old.

Our lives are changed for the better for having given our hearts, homes and love to puppies. It’s true. Saying good-bye is hard, but someone needs them more than us. Enjoy this story from 10-News WTSP. You’ll see Christie and Jake, and even our beloved family dog, Peppermint, who died last December. Learn more about Southeastern Guide Dogs at www.guidedogs.org.