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March 13, 2025

The Rewarding Role of Raising Puppies for Service Dogs

BlogVolunteering

Raising puppies for service dogs is one of the most rewarding, fulfilling, and sometimes challenging volunteer job you could find.  Putnam Service Dogs is committed to transforming amazing puppies into capable, experienced service animals, lifting up lives in the process. They carefully select the pups they train, given the extensive period and expense to transform a pup into a service dog. Their dogs are exceptionally people oriented, confident, friendly, non-aggressive, and trainable. 

Although we are always looking for caring homes for potential service dogs, we use discretion in how we select our volunteers. If you believe you meet the criteria for raising puppies for service dogs, or are considering becoming a volunteer puppy raiser, read on to find out more! 

The Importance of Raising Puppies for Service Dogs

There’s no denying that dogs are amazing companions, and raising them is certainly full of fun and laughter. However, raising puppies for service dogs is quite different from raising puppies as pets. Service dogs play very serious and important roles in their recipients’ lives, often allowing them freedom and independence in social, emotional, and even financial aspects. Service dogs are expected to exhibit an exceptionally high level of obedience, by being non-intrusive in public, and calm in new situations due to their extensive socialization while they were being raised. 

How Raising Puppies for Service Dogs Changes Lives

Volunteers who raise puppies for service dogs make a positive impact on no fewer than three lives – the puppy, the puppy’s eventual recipient, and the volunteer themself. There’s nothing quite as fulfilling as watching a puppy you’ve chosen, nurtured, and raised go on to give someone with a disability other than blindness or a veteran with PTSD their dignity, independence, and freedom. Transforming rescue puppies into capable service dogs and valuable members of their communities is an incredible cause, ensuring they live a life full of joy, love, and purpose. 

What We Expect from Volunteers Raising Puppies for Service Dogs

Putnam Service Dogs does everything possible to help our volunteer puppy raisers succeed in all their endeavors. Ultimately, we want these puppies to be happy, confident, and highly trained, and it is our job as humans to set them and their raisers up for this task. 

The Dos of Raising Puppies for Service Dogs

Although we work extensively with our volunteers to answer questions and provide as much support as possible prior to placing a puppy with them, some of the most important things we expect from our volunteer puppy raisers include the following:

  • Rewarding the puppy for their good behaviors each and every day with kibble and positive praise. This involves creating an environment that is conducive to excellent behavior, such as using crates, leashes, and gates thoughtfully and responsibly.
  • Using the gates, crates, and/or leashes (provided by PSD) to keep the puppy safe from harm. 
  • Keeping a structured daily routine. Structure helps puppies adapt and grow more confident with time, which is vital for socialization and their success later. 
  • Using appropriate language, body language, and tone with the puppy at all times. Dogs are very aware of human emotion, and while many dogs do learn to understand more than 200 words, they also use body language, volume, and tone of voice to assess situations. Volunteers must be kind and loving. 
  • Using house manners appropriately. This includes behaviors such as waiting by doors until they receive a cue that it’s okay to go through, asking dogs to wait before they are released to their toys or food, ensuring pups keep all four paws on the floor at all times, prohibiting mealtime begging, and ensuring the pups only chew on the appropriate toys provided to them. 
  • Ensuring correct interactions. This means using a harness when taking puppies for daily walks to minimize damage and discomfort from a leash on their collar, avoiding greeting all other dogs while on a leash, and including crate time as part of the daily routine, even if the volunteers are home with the puppy. Other activities, such as getting in and out of cars, feeding, and daily handling and health checks are required. Our highly skilled, highly trained trainers will guide you every step of your journey while you’re raising and training a pup for Putnam Service Dogs.

The Don’ts of Raising Puppies for Service Dogs

Some of the things we ask our volunteers to avoid when raising puppies for service dogs include the following:

  • No dog parks or greeting other dogs while on a leash
  • Distractions should be avoided with distance between the puppy and other people, dogs, cars, animals, etc. 
  • No dogs allowed on furniture except for their designated dog beds. 
  • No begging for food at the table. Dogs can wait human mealtimes out in their crates, if necessary. 
  • No allowing a dog to run loose in the house or otherwise when unsupervised. 
  • No soft toys like plushies or rawhide chews. We provide your puppy with safe, effective toys he or she will adore. 
  • No leaving the dog bed available to the pup if the pup is not being directly supervised. 

Help PSD Raise Puppies for Service Dogs

Transforming rescue dogs into valuable members of society and capable helpers is a lengthy task that takes many people and plenty of patience. With the demand for service dogs at an all time high and many applications coming in every single month, we are on a mission to partner with loving, dedicated, benevolent puppy raisers who want to make an impact on their communities. Learn more about volunteering with PSD as a puppy raiser. 

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