Thank you for your interest in our Puppy Foster Raising Program.
The purpose of the program is to socialize puppies and assist in their training to prepare them for Service Dog duties. Generally, puppies live with their foster families from the time of purchase until they reach 14-15 months old.
Socializing a puppy means exposing the puppy to new situations in a measured and controlled way so that they can make a positive association with the new situation. The primary mission of the foster family will be to develop good behaviour in the home environment as well as exposing the puppy to various environments on a regular basis (including urban, rural, and social environments). Service dogs will work in these environments in the future.
Foster families must be willing to follow carefully selected guidelines and the directions of Puppy Program staff in caring for and training of their puppies. Preferably, the puppy raising family would be located in the National Capital Region or close by in order to facilitate training and proper support.
When deemed ready by the CVSDU, puppies will then be paired with a veteran or first responder suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
If you are interested in becoming a CVSDU Puppy Foster family or would like more information, please contact the Head Trainer at: dogtrainer@cvsdu.ca