Pippin, raised May 7, 1994 until May 6, 1995

Pippin , a female purebred Black Labrador Retriever, is the first puppy that I raised for Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) of San Rafael, CA. She was born February 28, 1994 and I got her May 7, 1994.

On May 6th, 1995, Pippin was returned to GDB to contine her training. All her health checks came out good, and she was spayed after she came out of heat. She then started training with a trainer named Bill. Later, she was transferred to a trainer by the name of Teal.

Pippin and her new partner

On September 20th, 1996, Pippin was matched with a woman in the training class at San Rafael. They trained together at the San Rafael campus of Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc., for 4 weeks, and graduated together as a working team on Saturday, October 14th. I was able to fly to San Rafael and meet Angie, Pippin's new partner, and see Pippin again. It was a great experience and really made the process of raising Pippin, and then giving her up (to go back to school) take on new meaning.

Pippin's new partner lives in Canada. I talk to Angie on the phone regularly, and last summer I was able to make the trip to visit Angie and Pippin at their home. The following two pictures show Angie and Pippin, and Chynna, Detroit, Angie and Pippin. Detroit, as a guide dog puppy in training, accompanied Angie, Pippin and I to stores, the mall, restaraunts, and a ride on the skytrain. It was fun to visit with Angie and have a chance to see the area she lives in. Now when we talk on the phone and she mentions locations around her, I can picture them because I have been there.

Here is a picture of Pippin with some of her litter mates, just before they went back to San Rafael. Left to right are Paloma (f), Purdue (m), Pippin (f), and Promise (f). We also got a picture of the same dogs, in the same order, with their raisers , l-r: Danyelle with Paloma, John with Purdue, Pippin and me, and Tammie with Promise.

Puppy raisers, as we are called, do not actually train the guide dogs to guide, we just give them a good start on life and lots of socialization (and sometimes humiliation) and experience in public, so they'll know how to behave well later when they're guides.



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Nancy Roberts
email: nancyr@cc.usu.edu
September 13, 1995