Where are our Puppy Raiser Groups?
We’re recruiting puppy raisers, and one of the commitments these wonderful volunteers make is attending two group meetings each month. A volunteer “area coordinator” plans and organizes these group meetings, and each group is centered around a geographic location. Puppy raiser meetings are extremely important for success, for several reasons:
- New and potential puppy raisers learn how we train our puppies.
- Puppy raisers learn from each other.
- Puppies learn to interact with other people and puppies.
- Puppies gain exposure to all kinds of real-world experiences out in the community.
- Area coordinators evaluate puppies’ progress.
To volunteer to raise a puppy (that could be you!), you’ll need to live close enough to one of our groups to be willing to drive there twice a month. Our groups are clustered mostly in Florida and have expanded to a total of seven states. On occasion, an experienced puppy raiser will relocate to another city or state and then recruit new raisers to start a group in a new location.
If you live within driving distance to one of these cities, you, too, can raise a Southeastern Guide Dogs puppy. What are you waiting for? Check out the map below to see locations of our active puppy raiser groups, and then join the puppy-kissing fun.
And remember, you don’t have to be perfect to be a perfect puppy raiser. Take a puppy home!
Alabama: Birmingham
Florida: Bradenton, Cocoa Beach, Ft. Lauderdale/Miami, Ft. Myers (Cape Coral, Marco Island, Naples), Gainesville, Gulf Coast: Pensacola, Jacksonville, Lakeland/Winter Haven, Lakewood Ranch, MacDill, Ocala, Orlando, Palmetto/Ellenton, Pinellas County, Sarasota North and South, Southshore (Southern Hillsborough County), Tampa, Tri-County, West Palm Beach
Georgia: Atlanta/Macon, Savannah
Mississippi: Pascagoula
North Carolina: Albemarle, Charlotte
Tennessee: Nashville
Texas: Dallas, Houston
