Journey of our pups
We hope you enjoyed that behind the scenes look at our pups coming into the world. Pups in our program go through four pivotal stages on their way to becoming life- changing Guide Dogs.
It all starts at birth with early socialisation when the pups are a few days old with their siblings, mother and staff. This involves exposure to different smells, textures, voices and of course a lot of sleeping! This puppy enrichment stage goes from birth through to the first 8 weeks of life.
Pups, once fully weaned at 8 weeks, from their mum, are ready to tackle the big wide world. They then join a volunteer Puppy Raising family for 12 months. The volunteer Puppy Raiser teaches them basic obedience and home behaviours as well as attend regular puppy classes. The pups become part of the Puppy Raiser family, learning new skills and having lots of fun.
At 12 months, pups come back to the centre for an initial assessment. In this assessment, a Guide Dog Instructor observes the dog’s personality and tailors training to their temperament. This intensive training is where the dogs learn their final skills, this training goes for twenty weeks.
After all training is complete; it is time for the dog to take its final test, which includes guiding an instructor under blindfold! If a dog passes this assessment, they are then matched with a Guide Dogs Client – a person living with low vision or blindness.
![A yellow Labrador puppy lies sleepily amid some toys](https://cdn.guidedogs.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/02/S-litter-1-712x704-lqip.jpg)
How to see more exclusive content like this?
Our Puppy Pals get to see exclusive content like this all the time!
Puppy Pals have the privilege of watching a litter of pups go from cute and cuddly balls of fluff to fully-qualified working Guide Dogs, who give greater freedom and independence to people living with low vision or blindness.
Find out more about becoming a Puppy Pal today.
![Two Labrador puppies sit next to each other outside](https://cdn.guidedogs.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/01/O04A6478-DigestiCare_cropped-712x704-lqip.jpg)