What Is Assistance Dog Puppy Raising — And Should You Do It?

Hello, dog peeps. Jack here. Just a quick one before we get into this episode. You may or may not be aware that when I'm not talking dog stuff with Max, I in fact interview people who are incarcerated in prisons across the United States on a show called One Minute Remaining Stories from the Inmates. And that show has been nominated for an award in America. And I would love your support if you've got 60 seconds to click the link in the show notes of this episode and just vote for my show. That would be amazing if you could. Thank you very much indeed. Oh, and don't forget to verify your email address. Otherwise, the vote does not count. Thank you.

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It's the Dog People Podcast with your host, Jack Lawrence. Secretly, I decided to start this podcast For some free dog training advice. You know, Malinois seem to be like the dog at the moment. Like, I think people see them on Instagram doing these incredible things. Yeah. Go, oh my God, that's fucking awesome. And then they get one like, oh my God, what the fuck have I done?

And Max O'Neill.

You would not believe how many people I meet and I go, what made you want to get, say, an Aussie Shepherd? They go, I don't know. I go, had you met one before? They go, no. If you want to ask me how often I walk my own dog a week, it's only twice a week.

It's the Dog People Podcast, the podcast hopefully giving you a no-nonsense approach to dog training so you never have to shout, it's okay, friendly. My name's Jack Lawrence, not a dog trainer, just a dog training enthusiast. But of course, Max O'Neill, dog training extraordinaire from Down Under Dog Trainer. Max, today we want to talk about something that you and I have both been involved in. We think it's a phenomenal thing to be involved in, and that's helping out with organizations who have dogs for purposes in regards to You know, guide dogs, assistance dogs, and all that sort of stuff. You can take on these dogs for a short period of time. And yeah, it's a great initiative. And we just want to talk about that because obviously both of us have experience with that.

Yeah. So I know both of us have raised puppies for organisations in the past. I've done some puppy raising for Guide Dogs Queensland. Quick disclaimer, totally separate to my business. We don't contract for them, anything like that. It was just me volunteering in a voluntary capacity. Just want to get that disclaimer out there. And you've also raised puppies for Assistance Dogs Australia, was it?

Well, yeah. I mean, I've helped them with dogs. I mean, I wouldn't suggest, I wouldn't sit here claiming I've raised a puppy for them the whole way through, but I did spend some time helping them with some of their dogs.

You've had some dogs board here for quite a while.

Yeah. Yeah. We had Chunky Labrador, which I've referenced before, come and hang out with us. And they said, look, number one, can you just see if you can drop some weight off him? Absolutely. We could do that. And did some training as well. And yeah, it's a great thing to do.

Yeah, absolutely. And we wanted to talk about our experience with that, like how we got into it, why we did it, but also why it might be really beneficial for some of you to try that too. So with these organisations, like, um, you know, you can always, you can reach out to these ones we've just mentioned. I know every different state's got their, around Australia, if you're listening, has got their own seeing eye or guide dog organisation, their own assistance dog organisations. And if you're listening from abroad, to some of our listeners in the States or NZ or England or wherever, is your own country is going to have that too. Most first and second world countries now have got assistance or, you know, seeing eye dog organisations that you can reach out to. And honestly, they'll probably welcome you with open arms.

I'd say they bite your hand off, to be honest, because they are always looking for good people to take in dogs for them and help with those early stages. You

know, yeah, they're almost always short of volunteers. And you and I have both felt that because especially once you're in their system as a puppy raiser and a good puppy raiser, they'll really try and keep giving you more dogs.

Hey, can you take another one? Can you take another one? So yeah, they are always looking for people to help them out. And because they are obviously not-for-profit organisations.

Yeah. And it's an awesome thing to do, guys. Like, I know both of us sit here and have a sense of pride that out there I've had, you know, 3 dogs. I can't mention their names, but there's 3 dogs out there. All 3 passed and all 3 were working dogs. And it's pretty cool knowing that, you know, I was a part of their journey to, to get them to where they need to be. And same with Jack. There's dogs out there helping each other right now. There's a— helping people right now. Sorry. And it's a, it's a pretty cool feeling knowing you've contributed in some way. So that's definitely, that's definitely a part of it. But honestly, I really think the main part that, or the main reason, sorry, you should consider this is just some of the amazing takeaways you get from it. Because when you get this puppy, you can't just raise it the way you want. That organisation's got some really strict criteria. Here's what you need to do every day. Here's some objectives. Here's some goals you need to try and hit in this time frame. Not that there's a heap of pressure. And here's some things they're really not allowed to do. And I know when we did this, I'd already, you know, been training dogs for a bit, but there was definitely some things I'm like, okay, that's interesting. I wouldn't do it that way, but hey, I'll stick to it and let's see. And it's really amazing to see, like, wow, these guys have been raising hundreds of dogs, thousands of dogs for years and years and years and years. And here's what they've learned. And learning that firsthand from them is incredible. There's certainly some things now that I'll implement with clients and recommend that I absolutely took away from my times with Guide Dogs Queensland and Guide Dogs UK with their puppy raising program. It's, it's incredible. And I imagine you learned quite a bit too.

Yeah. I mean, it was just fun for me because when I got the dog from them, I had Kira and I'd had Kira for a little while. And obviously going from having this high drive working dog to a Labrador was such a, just such a vast difference in the way the training worked and, you know, the difference in level of, you know, the calmness and just all of that stuff was just fascinating for me and sort of having to adjust the way I was training for, for the, for this Labrador, as opposed to how I would do it with Kira. The drive. I mean, when it turned up, it was fat. So the food drive wasn't there. So then, you know, getting to build that food drive with the dog was really great. And then just seeing the way, you know, it actually just, it really once Once the food drive was there and once it realized, you know, well, this is how I get my food and actually this is kind of fun. Like the drive went up and then it is a commitment obviously, because as part of that, you also have to go along to group classes that they have where you see the other people that are looking after the dogs and stuff like that.

So much fun. Like we used to do weekly group classes in like a Coles or a shopping center. So they'll have puppies placed all over, you know, for us when I was, or when I was with You know, Guide Dogs Queensland, it was, they'd have groups, you know, in all over Southeast Queensland. So we'd be like the Gold Coast group, and then your dog and their littermates would all meet up and go to like a shopping center and learn how to do escalators or elevators and travelators.

Things that you can't do with your own dog.

Yeah. And it was so cool. Like, it's such a good experience because most of us will probably never need an assistance dog. So you kind of get to experience a little bit what that's like. And it, it's also a pretty cool experience. You know, some of the skills we'd be teaching people You'd be like, wow, oh, the dog's sorry. You go, wow, like, I'm having to teach this to this dog because it's going to have to do this, the looking and keeping an eye out and seeing for people. Like, it was really interesting. So like, although there's, you know, a bit of a commitment component to it, it's, it really is fun.

I mean, if you like dogs and you like the training side of things, you will absolutely love it. I love dogs. Yeah. I mean, I loved it. And the other thing was the things that I was having to teach the dog, I then taught Kira as well. So I'm like, because there's, there's one that they do with the assistance dogs where it's teaching them to go under your legs when you're sitting down so they're not in the way. So you get on a bus, the dog goes under your legs, or you're at a cafe, the dog goes under your legs. And I'd never even thought of that. I'm like, so I was like, I'm teaching Kira that because it's great. We're out with the dog and I need her to be out of the way. I'll teach her to go under my legs.

Still, yes, so many smart things.

Yeah, some great little aspects that I wouldn't even have thought of with her. And then, you know, we did the thing where I met the lady from the organization at Coles and we had a little exam where she's like, you know, I need to see how he's traveling with, with, you know, not trying to pick things up off the floor and, you know, not pulling away and all those bits and pieces. And, you know, there was a buzz to that. When we passed, I was just like, you know, you get that again. You're like, oh, this is so cool.

Yeah.

And, you know, at some point you're going to have to say goodbye to the dog. And that's sad, but it's also like awesome because you're like, as you said, you've put all in, all this work into this dog who's going to go off and, you know, be trained more because obviously you're only the early stages. You're not taking the dog through every aspect of what it'll need to know. It then goes off to a training center where they do the hardcore stuff. But, you know, you've had that opportunity to basically affect someone's life in a really positive way.

Yeah.

And had so much fun doing it. Like,

you know, if you're going to volunteer, it's a pretty cool way of doing so. And it's a pretty good way to give back to the world. And it's, it's cool. Like, you know, depending on the organization as well, like, you know, you get to go to your dog's graduation and see them get their jacket and shit like that. It's, it's, it's pretty special, guys, honestly.

And this is not paid advertising. Yeah, we genuinely do think it's just a phenomenal thing to do.

But guys, if you want to—

Yeah, I mean, we're always willing to take money. We're not, we're not proud.

We'll bend over for the corporate dollar. But that's it. Like, you know, you chat to all the other people in the course and everyone really enjoys it and is just like so glad they did it. I guess the last part of one of the benefits for you guys, you know, as the dog people listening, is it's a really good trial run. It's something I really encourage people to do. You know, when I get people reach out saying, oh, we're thinking of getting this dog done. And I'm like, look, you don't sound 100% sure that you want slash need a dog. You don't know if you know yet. Yeah. That's where we're at. Okay. Best thing you can do is volunteer with one of these organisations, trial having a dog for 6 months, see if realistically, you know, having to, you know, hit these objectives, train a dog every day, walk a dog every day, which you're gonna have to do with your own pet, you know, raise a dog the right way and, you know, realistically see if you actually enjoy living with a dog and if you want to put in this much effort. And a couple of clients over the years have taken me up on that. And, you know, some have got to the end of it going, oh my God, that was amazing. We're so well prepared. We can't wait to do it with our own dog. I've also had a couple of clients who, when we check back in, they go, hey, how did you go? They look, we loved it, but we've realised the dog's not the pet for us. Like, we, we see the benefit of raising this way and we just wouldn't have the time or effort to want to do this with our own dog long term. So it was really eye-opening. And that's another good thing. Maybe you should recommend it to friends if they're on the fence, you know, rather than get a dog and then take them back 3 months later and go, now screw this. If you've only got 6 months in you, You may as well use it productively and do a good thing.

Yeah. I mean, and sort of following on from that, as you said, like, you know, everything you'll have to teach that dog, you will be having to teach your own dog as well. So not only do you get to have a crack at it before your own dog, so you can make mistakes or, you know, you get things right, then when you get your own dog, you've got that covered. But also, as Max said, if you're going through it and you're like, oh God, this is— there is a lot of work here, at least With that dog that you're looking after, there's no long-term commitment. You don't have to feel guilty because it's going back anyway. And also great if you've already got a dog and you're thinking about a second dog. Could we handle a second dog? Another perfect way to test that. Get one of these dogs in, look after it for 6 months or 12 months or whatever the commitment is they ask of you. And at the end of the road, you might go, absolutely, that was perfect for us. We can, we can do that. Or you may go, absolutely not. One is all we need.

That's it.

And then you haven't made that lifelong commitment to another dog before, you know, knowing whether

Exactly. You've done a good thing rather than a bad thing. And probably the last question you've probably all got in your heads, like, oh, isn't it so hard saying goodbye? Yeah, it is. It's bittersweet because it's not like they're dying. You know, they're going off to do such an amazing thing and you've prepared them for that. And you've also had 6 months knowing, hey, I'm getting this dog. I already know the date I'm going to have them hand them back. So you've kind of got 6 months to prepare. And of course you let them into your heart and it's still sad and there's still a few tears, but I don't look back and miss them in the same way I do when, you know, a dog's died. I look back and go, I know they're out there helping someone. And that puts a smile on my face each and every day.

To be honest, I was, I was not crying when Wombat left. I was very pleased to say goodbye to Wombat. He was, he was a great dog. He was a lovely lad. I had great fun with him. But yeah, it was nice to send him off and say, thanks for your time, Wombat.

Yeah.

Good luck on your travels, legend.

Yeah, it was like that with one of ours. We had 2 females which were beautiful, and then one male, we're like,

Just

enough. All the best, mate.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, he did sign, seal, deliver the fact that I don't really think I want a male dog in my life. But anyway, he was a beautiful dog. But it's so funny. And you say the whole thing about, you know, sad saying goodbye, because when I told my mum about it, I was like, oh, the dog probably be with us for 12 months, maybe a little bit longer. She's like, oh no, that poor thing is going to think you're its family and then you're going to just say goodbye to it. It's going to be confused and all that sort of stuff. And I was like, the best thing is what they do is you don't have that dog Constantly over their time. You do, they do switch, or I know Assistance Dogs Australia do this anyway. I don't know about the other organisations, but they do switch dogs around. So they'll say, hey, your dog is now going to go to this family for a few months or a week or, you know, a couple of weeks or whatever it is. You're going to have their dog. So dogs get used to that fact that they're going, okay, well, this isn't here. I go here sometimes and that's kind of fun. And then I go here. Oh, that's kind of fun. And they do sort of switch around so that, you know, they get used to that whole thing of— That's good. Well, this is life. I kind of was here for a bit and then I go here and, oh, I'm back here again. And then I go over here. So they get that sort of, you know, process in their head. So it's not like they're with you for 2 years and then you're gone.

Exactly. Before they work, they might go in, you know, you might have homes that raise them from anywhere to 3 to 6 months or whatever, and they might have 3 or 4 homes by the time they're placed. And that's partially by design to make them not get too, too comfortable anywhere, but also just with like the general raising principles. And we've talked about it heaps on here is you Develop a really healthy relationship dynamic where they're not, you know, codependent on you. They're not clingy and anxious and anything. So when you say goodbye, they're like, okay, cool. Like, on to the next home, which provides, you know, the exact same structure routine. And as much as I used to love to think, oh, I bet those dogs miss me. No way. They're off doing the exact same lifestyle just with a different human. They couldn't give a shit.

Yeah, it's no different to when you— like, I've fostered dogs before and I've had dogs stay with us for months at a time and then they go. I mean, it's not like I'm going, well, that's terribly sad. They're going to wonder what's happened. You know, I know they're going off to a great home to live their life. And that's no different with the assistance dogs, the guidance dogs, that sort of stuff. They're going off, they're going to have a purpose and they're going to look after someone and help someone. So,

yeah,

great thing to get involved with. So,

you know, and a lot of them, like Jack said, even if you've already got your own dog, they'll probably want to come out and do a character assessment and make sure it's not a sticky kid with bad habits or make sure it's not aggressive. But if you've already got a dog, you know, cat, kids, they'll let you do this generally. But also guys, like, try and recommend a friend. We're all dog people here. We want the best for dogs. If you've got a friend who's on the fence about a dog, maybe recommend this sort of thing to them because it might be the perfect trial run.

And if they go, oh, I don't know about that, you're like, well, there you go. Yeah, there's your answer. All right. So look up, we're not, I don't think we're going to sit here and recommend any particular people or service or anything like that.

They might not want us to.

Yeah. Just have a look around, see what's out there, send some emails, make some calls and see what works for you.

The Dog People Podcast is a Mashed Pumpkin production hosted by Jack Lawrence and Max O'Neill, edited, produced, and audio production by Jack Lawrence.

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