News
Fluffy First – Beginning of the Golden Puppies’ Journey to Becoming Guide Dogs
On this day, at our Association’s Sendai Training Centre in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, seven Golden Retriever puppies were placed with volunteer families. The puppies had arrived in Sendai the previous day after a long six-hour journey by car from our Association’s Japan Guide Dog Centre, ‘Fuji Harness’, in Fujinomiya City, Shizuoka Prefecture. Showing no signs of tiredness, they were playing energetically from the morning onwards.
Three Golden Retriever puppies sharing a single toy
Five Golden Retriever puppies playing and roughhousing together
Seven families, their hearts full of anticipation, gathered for the puppy ceremony. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the fluffy puppies as they made their appearance.
The seven puppies in their crates before the puppy walkers
One of them, Ms. S, first welcomed a puppy as a puppy-rearing volunteer back in 2008.
A woman holding a puppy in her arms and smiling gently
Since then, she has raised four puppies, and after her first dog retired from service as a guide dog, she took him back and cared for him until the end of his life. The puppy entrusted to Ms. S and her family this time is their fifth, as they restart their life with a dog after six months. Ms. S looked delighted, though a little surprised to be welcoming a Golden Retriever for the first time.
Group photo of Ms S’s family: Ms. S, her husband, son, and grandchild smiling alongside the puppy
In every family, everyone’s faces light up with smiles, centred around the puppy they have been entrusted with.
The centre manager handing the puppy over to the foster carer, holding it in his arm
Over the next ten months or so, the seven puppies will live with their puppy walkers, building relationships with people whilst learning the rules for living in human society. Having gone through a variety of experiences, they will surely arrive at the centre having grown both mentally and physically. We look forward to sharing updates on the puppy training sessions and the puppies’ progress.
Two puppies holding a toy together