May 16th, 2019– Canine Companions Give a Dog a Job conducted their May 2019 graduation ceremony recently. Sayville resident and FDNY 9-11 First Responder Paul Monfre was presented with Valor VII, who graduated the program and was trained by puppy raisers Tom and Jennifer Newton of Richmond, VA.
Puppies are raised by devoted volunteer breeder caretakers until they are 8 weeks old. Next, volunteer puppy raisers provide love, socialization and basic obedience training for 1 1/2 years to prepare the puppies for professional training.
"It is truly heart-warming to see the bond and the love that exists between assistance dogs, their teams and the recipients," said Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter. "The relationship between the recipient and the assistance dog is life-changing and immeasurable," she said.
Each assistance dog receives up to 9 months of professional training before entering Team Training. Team Training is a two-week intensive training for the recipients as they are professionally matched with their new assistance dogs and learn to work together as a team.
Team Training culminates with the celebration of the graduate teams, human and canine!
The graduation ceremony is a celebration of the hard work and accomplishments of the graduates and the efforts of everyone who helped make these exceptional teams possible, from volunteer breeder caretakers and puppy raisers, to thousands of additional volunteers and donors.
