Imagine raising a puppy from the age of eight weeks, keeping the friendly critter at your side at all times. Then, just when your constant companion has complied with all your commands and has come of age, around 16 months, you say goodbye - perhaps forever.

That's the drill that several Coronado individuals have undertaken time and time again. They are the "puppy raisers" who raise and train service dogs for a variety of organizations, including Canine Companions and Guide Dogs of the Desert.

Thanks to their efforts, Coronado dogs are leading the way for people with developmental and physical disabilities throughout the country.

Talk about a labor of love.

Celeste Kennedy got involved several years ago with Canine Companions when her daughter, Meghan, volunteered to become a puppy raiser for a Coronado High School community-service project.

Founded in 1975 as a non-profit organization, Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) pioneered the concept of training dogs to assist people with physical disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs to help them become more independent.

Kennedy has raised several Canine Companion puppies and continues to volunteer for the organization, making weekly trips to the San Diego International Airport, where she will pick up puppies and transport them to the southwest regional center in Oceanside. She is also raising a puppy for Guide Dogs of the Desert, a Palm Springs-based organization that trains dogs to serve the blind, and therefore approaches their instruction differently. She teaches them to be leaders, with decision-making capabilities, rather than dogs who follow the commands of their owners.

Canine Companion volunteers are also needed to foster-sit puppies before shipping them to puppy raisers in other states. "Because I am so close to our airport, I will foster-sit for a few hours or overnight before meeting a ‘flight-angel' who is a volunteer airline worker who will fly the puppy in a soft carrier, right under the seat, to the destination city," Kennedy says.

Canine Companion's breeding program is the primary source for dogs in the program; all are purebred golden retrievers and Labrador retrievers, or a cross-breed of the two. Each puppy passes through the CCI headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., which houses full-time veterinary and kennel-care staff. Following examination and vaccination, the eight-week- old pups are placed in the homes of volunteer puppy raisers through one of the organization's five regional centers.

The dogs are trained to become assistance companions at four different levels of service: some assist adults and children with physical disabilities; others assist with development and emotional disabilities; others work in hospital and nursing homes; and some are specially trained to assist deaf and hard-of-hearing persons, responding to doorbells and smoke alarms.

CCI's puppy-training classes are conducted on Federal Boulevard in San Diego. Training includes twenty-four classes, bi-weekly for about eighteen months. The puppies learn a total of thirty-five commands such as "dress," commanding the dog to calmly place its head through the training cape or collar, and "hurry," meaning "do your bathroom duty now."

Puppy raisers are asked to socialize the dog with other people and take them to public places. Volunteers often take their dogs to work and occasionally have a foster-sitter take the dog for more socialization.

While living in Chicago, Coronadan George "Jeep" Rice and his late wife Nancy got involved in the Canine Companion program and became volunteer puppy raisers.

"For my fiftieth birthday, Nancy had given me a black Labrador retriever puppy," says Rice. "We enjoyed raising our Lab as a pet and thought we would take the next step and raise an assistance dog."

Strict guidelines on the training and proper care of the dogs are required for puppy raisers. "I learned a lot about dogs and myself," said Rice. "For example, it was tempting to use body language, such as turning a shoulder, to help the dog follow a command. I had to be reminded by a team trainer that my dog may be servicing someone who is unable to move while giving a command."

During advanced training, the dogs learn higher skills such as opening and closing doors, turning light switches on and off, and picking things up to be delivered to a wheelchair. Fear tests are included such as opening an umbrella quickly in front of the dog and the sound of a gun shot.

"Most puppy raisers, including me, have a hard time giving the dog back to CCI for the final six to seven months of advanced training," said Rice. "Letting go is hard, trainers will say; the best you can do is hand the leash to the trainer, give the dog a kiss on the head and say, 'be your destiny.'"

Kennedy agrees that saying goodbye is never easy. "The whole time they're at your side, even sleeping at the side of your bed. You really miss them. You get a little sad."

Fortunately, Kennedy says, CCI is very smart and "you get to see the end result." That result is "matriculation day" held at Mission San Luis Rey where the dogs' future owners, who have resided at the Oceanside center for three weeks to learn to team-partner with their CCI dog, attend a graduation ceremony that is often crowded with friends and family. The puppy raiser presents the dog, handing over the leash to the new owner. "It's heartwarming," says Kennedy. "The recipient is so grateful. There are tears of sadness and joy all at the same time."

Only a small percentage - 20 to 30 percent - of CCI puppies actually makes it into service. If the puppy does not meet the organization's standards, the puppy is released back to the puppy raiser to keep, or the dog may go into a related field of service such as becoming a hospital therapy dog.

The Rices trained four dogs and three were accepted into some type of service. Baya, a black Lab, does hospital visits in San Francisco. Reesha, a black Lab/ golden cross, is with a wheelchair-bound teenager. Chyna, a yellow Lab/golden cross, functioned as a therapy dog, comforting Nancy Rice during her three-year battle with cancer.

A CCI volunteer for more than twenty years, Kathy Parish of Coronado currently serves as a foster-sitter of puppies in training and graduate dogs. Parish has intense admiration for CCI recipients' courage to expand their lives. "When receiving their dog, they're expected to lead an active, public life, and take care of the dog as well," she says. "It can be challenging, especially if their disability was from an accident and not congenital."

CCI is helping Vietnam vets and autistic adults and children alike. "The puppies often have a magical effect for a companion's life, and the process of raising and giving away a puppy can have the same effect on the puppy raiser," said Rice.

HOW TO BECOME A PUPPY RAISER
Individuals who can show the ability to offer a safe home and financially care for a dog may apply to be a volunteer puppy raiser. For information about becoming a puppy raiser or receiving a companion dog, interested persons may contact Canine Companions for Independence at (800) 572-2275 or at www.cci.org.