As a charity, we rely on our vital puppy parent volunteers who graciously give up their time to raise and train our puppies to prepare them for “Big School”. This is when the dog will join us at one of our training centres to begin the process of advanced training before being matched with a person with disabilities. 

Here is Rachel’s story, a 45-year-old mum of two who is currently with her first puppy-in-training, Morley. 

Rachel and her family had talked about her becoming a volunteer for Canine Partners for a while, and it was decided that when her two sons were older she would give it a go. Sadly, three years ago the life of her and her sons changed drastically with the loss of her husband Paul.

Before Paul had passed away, he had told Rachel: “I think you’ll surround yourself with kids and dogs”. He was right.

Rachel first became aware of Canine Partners through attending one of our information sessions. She said of the experience:

“We sat in and watched the demonstrations and my Mum and I couldn’t speak at the end of it because we had lumps in our throats. It was then I just knew that this is what I want to do. I think it was the idea of the routine of the training and meeting other like-minded doggy people too, who always tend to be lovely, after feeling so lost.”

Looking after an adorable puppy in training has been a healing process for the MacDonald family. Rachel and her sons began by fostering, and then after feeling ready for a new challenge, Rachel decided to become a puppy parent.

“I now have my first puppy Morley, an 11 month old black Labrador. I’ve had him since he was exactly eight weeks old.

It’s been challenging but we were ready for that challenge and have thrown ourselves into it. It’s very rewarding. Each week there’s a new challenge but you overcome that and there is always something else to learn and to get on top of.”

So what is it really like to train an assistance dog of the future? Rachel describes a typical day as a puppy parent:

“I get a lovely welcome as soon as I wake up in the morning from Morley. The day then starts with a play followed by a training session, where we either meet up with our amazing Satellite Trainer Claire or do some training at home on our own. Claire has been so supportive from day one, it actually surprised me how much support that you get.

Claire and the rest of the puppy department are on hand all the time to guide you and you’re not alone at all. I think I’m so honest with Claire with what obstacles we face because I am so keen to get this right for Morley, I don’t want to fail him. I want Morley to go on with the best chance to be an amazing assistance dog, so for us as a family for him to go on to do great things and transform someone’s life is what it’s all about.

The training side of being a puppy parent is very sociable as you get to meet up with other puppy parents with their puppies, which is really helpful because sometimes you feel you’re the only one that might have a particular problem but then you get to chat with others and you realise that they feel the same. Its lovely seeing the puppies have their free time and play, it’s not all rigid training and routines.”

For the first 16 weeks of Morley’s socialisation with Rachel, he has had the opportunity to explore lots of different places including public transport, shops and to the park to practice recalls. He has also experienced lifts, stairs and pedestrian crossings…and all in his stride, too!

When asked about the most important part of being a puppy parent, Rachel emphasises how crucial it is to be able to give your time to it. You will only get out what you put in, and for an assistance dog in training it is key to train and socialise them to their very best ability in order to give them the best chance to succeed. When your puppy passes its training and is matched with a person with disabilities, it is an incredible feeling.

“The most rewarding thing about being a puppy parent is when you get something right. For us it’s been quite a challenging journey so when we get something right it just makes all that hard work so worthwhile.

I can’t wait for Morley to be partnered. I know it will be really hard to say goodbye to him and it will be tough on the boys, but just knowing he’s going on to make such a difference to someone’s life is amazing. He’s such a lovely boy and he really deserves to be able to help someone and make someone happy.

If you’re thinking about being a puppy parent I say go for it. As long as you feel you have the time to put in to it and just keep in mind the great thing that’s going to come out at the end of it, you get so much out of it. We have got so much out of having Morley as a family as he brings a lot of joy, he really does. When he’s done healing us and making us happy he will go on and help someone living with a disability who needs him.”

We desperately need more puppy parents to help us fulfill the demand for a canine partner. If you, or someone you know could help us train our amazing puppies, find out more and  get in touch with us by visiting caninepartners.org.uk/puppyparents.