Adult Raising

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about many changes for NSD! We are excited to announce the addition of a new volunteer program, adult raising.  This program has been in the works for quite some time and the pandemic gave us a great push to fully execute it.

The basics

Adult raisers will take a dog into their home around the age of 14-16 months.

They will provide care and training maintenance until the dog moves on to their forever home (typically by age 2). The dog will stay with their raiser full time until they start university training. At which time, the dog will come to NSD during the day Monday thru Wednesday for training. Evenings and non-training days are still spent with the adult raiser. The adult raiser is expected to keep up with the dog’s training and continue to expose them to new experiences and environments in public.

Duties may include:

  • Daily care of the dog including feeding, providing fresh water, and exercise 
  • Volunteers provide; treats, toys, a dog bed, bowls, etc. (food and vet care are covered by NSD)
  • Maintain and practice training and NSD expectations 
  • Notify the Health Coordinator about changes in the dog’s health 
  • Notify the Training Team about changes in the dog’s behaviours and skill 
  • Complete weekly feedback forms 
  • Welcome feedback and advice from the Training Team 
  • Attend training classes a minimum of once a month 
  • Transport the dog to vet and other appointments as required 
  • Support in the transportation of the dog to and from NSD University 
  • Other tasks as required

Requirements:

  • Level 1 Handling 
  • Live within 30 minutes of NSD 
  • Children that live in the home must be over 1 year of age 
  • Maximum of 2 personal dogs that are at least 1 year of age

Volunteer Testimonial

“Me and my family were very satisfied adult raising Heidi. She was so well behaved and such a loving and sweet dog. She fit very well into our family and settled in immediately.” – Natasha

The benefits

This program allows the dogs in training to gain even more new experiences. The dogs gain exposure to a new household and handler. In addition, we are better able to maintain consistency throughout their advanced training. It is also much less stressful for the dogs than going into a kennel environment!

Other training schools have instituted this system and we are excited to see how it will work for NSD!

If you are interested in becoming an adult raiser please contact lindsey@nsd.on.ca.