MASS. - An organization known for training service dogs is looking for full time puppy raisers.
The volunteers take puppies around eight weeks old into their homes for 12 to 16 months to provide things like daily training, socialization, and physical exercise.
Right now, NEADS has about 35 full time puppy raisers and are looking for more.
Volunteer manager, Kate Sullivan, says the volunteers help prepare dogs for a career of helping people with disabilities or providing therapeutic assistance.
Sullivan said, "Our raisers are the heart of NEADS. We couldn't match world class service dog without our raisers. So it's a really really important job to have and it's also life changing getting to impact someone’s life in a huge way."
"I love it, a lot of people are always like 'I don't know how you do it' because you have to say goodbye to the dogs, because you do have them 24/7 but it is so worth it and going to graduation, I cry every time because you see all your hard work being paying off and you do get to hear the clients talk about how much the dog has changed their lives,” said volunteer Leah Bell.
Weekly training sessions between NEADS trainers and the volunteer puppy raisers are being held virtually due to the pandemic.