Puppies! Who doesn't love puppies? For all you dog people reading this, imagine how excited you would be if you got the chance to take puppies home and play with them and love them for a week. If that sounds like a dream come true for you, I have great news: this is a 100% totally real opportunity through programs like Guiding Eyes for the Blind! Let's slow down for a minute though and talk about what volunteering with guide pups really entails.

There are various amazing programs all over the nation that are responsible for breeding, raising, and training service dogs. The majority of these organizations are non-profit, so volunteers are vital to keeping programs running and ensuring there is enough help on hand to train and care for the animals.

I have recently become a volunteer with one such organization, Guiding Eyes for the Blind, as a home socializer. Basically that means I take puppies into my home, two or three at a time, for three to seven days, and just get them accustomed to living in a home before they move on to live with their raiser. As excited as I was when I first applied, I quickly realized there was a lot more work involved than just snuggling with pups all day.

All volunteers attend some form of orientation program, to become familiar with the organization and its policies. It will include training on how to handle and train the dogs, specifics about their feeding and sleeping, and basic rules for having the dogs in your home. It will also outline the time commitment, since it is usually required to do a minimum number of home visits with puppies as a volunteer socializer. These meetings can go on for up to five hours - there's a lot of information that's important to go over to ensure volunteers are fully prepared to take home the dogs.

The most important thing to remember is that puppies are babies, and babies are noisy, messy, and dependent on you. Especially at 7 weeks - the age at which puppies are usually first sent out to volunteers - dogs are a handful. You need to take them out frequently, or at least be ready to change a lot of newspapers. They're old enough to want to explore everything but not so old that they're house-trained or know any basic commands. What you end up with is a tiny furball running through your house and you have to be constantly watching it to keep it out of trouble and keep your carpets clean.

Service puppies in training come with a few extra responsibilities as well, because you're helping to prepare them for a very important job. The program I volunteer with requires home socializers to do specialized work with the puppies, including stair training, crate training, socializing, body massage, and starting to introduce basic commands. The puppies can not be brought out of the home because they are not yet vaccinated, and they can not be left alone for more than an hour at a time.

Additionally, you can't necessarily treat these dogs like you would your own - they are not allowed on furniture and they are not allowed any "human food". The trained program leaders have also developed specific ways to address the dog that prove most effective in raising well-behaved, attentive, and loving animals. "No" is a word that they prefer to avoid, along with harsh tones or yelling. Volunteers are instructed to speak to the dogs in calm, happy voices, to praise generously, and to keep all experiences positive, as it builds confidence.

The point of home socialization is to let puppies who have been in a kennel for their entire short lives become accustomed to living in various different households, and being exposed to new sights, smells, and noises. The most critical aspect of home visits though is to let puppies form a bond with humans.

Taking in service pups is no joke - you'll be exhausted within the first hour, I promise. However, it is such a rewarding thing to do, and it helps so many people who are truly deserving of the wonderful gift of a service animal. If after reading this you think you're capable of taking on the job, I encourage you to check out some programs that have centers in your area. Not only are you a part of something amazing, you also get tons of puppy kisses and cuddles - and how could you pass up on that?