Rochester College Gives Leader Dogs A Helping Hand

ROCHESTER HILLS, MI — When Rochester College recently heard Leader Dogs for the Blind was in dire need of volunteers to be parents and trainers of puppies, the Rochester Hills-based institution stepped up and created the RC-Campus Puppy Program. Joshua Allen became the program’s first recipient of a puppy on April 28.

It’s a significant commitment for Allen — up to two years. He is one of just six students that will be selected train puppies. The program is dedicated to raising and providing behavioral training to puppies that will later serve those who are visually impaired through a partnership with Leader Dogs for the Blind.

The college has designated a residence hall as the RC-Campus Puppy Living and Learning Community. It is where all of the students who are raising, sitting, and supporting puppies for the RC-Campus Puppy program will be living.

Leader Dogs for the Blind is a service organization that has been providing guide dogs to the visually impaired for over 70 years and they live, work and operate within hundreds of feet, not miles, from our campus. They provide the necessary training to match approximately 200 guide dogs with visually impaired clients each year, at zero cost to the client.

To accomplish this mission, Leader Dogs has very formal breeding, puppy raising, and guide dog training programs. The new Rochester College program will provide students, faculty and staff the opportunity to raise the puppies that will become guide dogs through Leader Dog’s rigorous training program.

Students who are chosen for the responsibility are expected to commit to raising the puppy for a minimum of one year and must be committed to following the puppy training program while providing care for the puppies needs through the course of that year. Puppy raisers will become a member of a puppy raising community organized by Leader Dog for the Blind and will be paired with another student who will provide their service as a puppy sitter.

Photo courtesy of Rochester College