Guide dog puppy raisers sought

Guide Dogs for the Blind’s Eureka Puppy Raisers will hold a public presentation March 18 at 5:30 p.m. to recruit local puppy raisers. The meeting will be held at the Agriculture Building, 5630 S. Broadway in Eureka.

Members of the Eureka Puppy Raisers, a local puppy club chapter of Guide Dogs for the Blind, are recruiting volunteer puppy raisers to raise and socialize puppies that will ultimately empower individuals who are blind or visually impaired, giving them greater safety and independence. To help with this effort, the club welcomes the public to this presentation, “Raise a Puppy, Change a Life — An Introduction to Puppy Raising.” The presentation aims to educate prospective volunteers about the responsibilities and requirements of becoming a volunteer puppy raiser.

Puppy raisers are responsible for teaching guide dog puppies good manners and providing socialization experiences for about the first year of the pups’ lives. Raisers receive the pups when they are approximately 8 weeks old, and the pups return to one of Guide Dogs for the Blind’s campuses for formal guidework training when they are between 15 and 20 months of age.

Headquartered in San Rafael, Guide Dogs for the Blind prepares highly qualified guide dogs to serve and empower individuals who are blind or visually impaired. All of its services are provided free of charge. Guide Dogs for the Blind receives no government funding. More than 15,000 guide teams have graduated from Guide Dogs for the Blind since it was founded in 1942. The organization was the subject of an award-winning 2018 featurelength documentary called “Pick of the Litter,” which was developed into a television docu-series by the same name, which debuted late last year on subscription streaming service Disney +.

For more information about Guide Dogs for the Blind, visit guidedogs.com.

Headquartered in San Rafael, Guide Dogs for the Blind prepares highly qualified guide dogs to serve and empower individuals who are blind or visually impaired. All of its services are provided free of charge. Guide Dogs for the Blind receives no government funding.

EUREKA PUPPY RAISERS — CONTRIBUTED Byron is a local Guide Dogs for the Blind puppy in training. Guide Dogs’ Eureka Puppy Raisers group seeks new volunteers to help raise these future guide dogs.