If being a puppy raiser is not for you, but you love dogs and want to help us, you might want to consider one of these options:

Short Term Foster Home
Short-term foster homes usually provide homes for dogs for a period of two to six weeks. The dogs placed with these volunteers are usually between one and two years of age. They are primarily for our Hearing Dog program.

We select Hearing Dog candidates from shelters and place them in a foster home for a short time to get used to "home life" again. We ask the foster volunteer to further evaluate the dog for us before we place it in a client's home.

Emergency Foster Home
Emergency foster homes usually have a dog for only a few days or a week. The dog may be any age, from a young puppy up to an adult dog. The need could arise due to a last minute shelter adoption, a puppy raiser family going on vacation, or staff closing our kennel during a holiday weekend.

Adopting a “Career-Change" Dog
Some of our dogs, due to medical issues or minor behavior problems (i.e. not being work motivated, being nervous in busy public areas, etc), cannot complete training.

In some cases, a seasoned, fully trained Assistance Dog needs to “retire” due to age or health issues. We help find the dog a good, loving home. If you’d like to apply for adoption of a career-change dog, please download an application.

Breeder-Caretaker
These volunteers provide a good, permanent home to one of our breeder dogs. Though they are not Service Dogs, these animals need to be well behaved and must be kept in good health. Occasionally, when she has a litter, she will move to our location for a short time for whelping of the puppies, but you can come and visit. When her breeding days are over, we turn over ownership of the dog to you.

For more information about breeding-caretaking, contact Julianne Larsen at 763-331-3000 ext 154.