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Guide Dogs Winter Puppy Litters Looking For 12 Loving Homes In Wollongong and Southern Highlands

Guide Dogs NSW/ACT is celebrating the arrival of its latest Guide Dog litters, but the young pups will need loving and responsible volunteers to help care for them over the next twelve months, while they train to be a working Guide Dog.

Volunteer Puppy Raisers play a critical role in transforming young puppies into reliable Guide Dogs that will one day provide essential independence and freedom to someone who is blind or has low vision.

Wollongong and Southern Highland locals can now play an invaluable role in preparing a Guide Dog puppy it for its career as a life changing Guide Dog, with Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.

Up to twelve Volunteers are urgently needed in:

• Wollongong
• Kiama
• Mittagong
• Bowral
• Kangaroo Valley

Guide Dogs relies on the generosity of volunteer Puppy Raisers to care for new puppies from around eight weeks of age until they’re one-year-old, providing them with a loving home and basic training, until they return to Guide Dogs to commence their formal Guide Dog training.

Guide Dogs NSW, Puppy Development Manager Karen Hayter says, “Guide Dogs wouldn’t be sustainable without the assistance Puppy Raisers. By volunteering as a Puppy Raiser, you will make a wonderful contribution that will help these special pups to one day change the life of someone who has low vision or blindness.”

Becoming a Puppy Raiser:

To become a Puppy Raisers, the first requirement is that you need to have a fully fenced yard, be away from home no more than four hours at a time, have access to a car and be able to attend training days in their local area.

Puppy Raisers must also be available for information sessions, vet checks and Puppy Pre-School when required.

“As these dogs will go on to assist someone with low vision or blindness, home behaviour is very important, so Puppy Raisers will need to encourage good dog manners in the home,” Ms Hayter said.

While Puppy Raisers are responsible for everyday activities such as grooming, house training and exercising their pups, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT provides a strong support network. Guide Dogs provides the pups food, veterinary care, flea and tick prevention and you will have a dedicated Puppy Development Adviser on hand to answer any questions and provide guidance to our Puppy Raisers.

To ensure everyone’s safety and wellbeing, Guide Dogs operates to strict Covid safety measures, with many puppy classes held online! Continued support is provided to old and new Puppy Raisers though telepractice, and where appropriate, social distancing measures.

It takes over two years and costs $50,000 to raise breed, raise and train each Guide Dog. Like all of the organisation’s services, Guide Dogs are provided at no cost to those who need them.

You can find out more, and apply to become a Puppy Raiser by emailing Guidedogscentre@guidedogs.com.au