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Recently, two Exton team members, Lindsay Reinhold, Manager – Projects and Planning, and Jenny Garten, Project Analyst, were homes to two CPL puppies over the last year.
In January, Jenny took in a black labradoodle named Necco and served as a temporary puppy home until Necco went to a prison, where inmates will be paired with the puppy to assist in further training. At the end of February, Jenny took in Braver, a black lab from Boston, who was about 10 weeks old, and “an old soul in a baby pup’s body.” Braver stayed with Jenny until he went to a prison on July 2.
“I wanted to be a puppy raiser since high school. I thought it was the coolest thing, but as a scientist I didn’t think it was something that I could do since I work in the lab. But because West is such a big sponsor of CPL and I decided it was a good time to raise a puppy through volunteering with CPL.”
“The hardest part of raising a puppy to become a service dog was the people in public not understanding, so I definitely learned a lot and made sure to educate people. These dogs are a way for people to live a mostly normal life and they can also be the difference of life and death for someone. So being able to be an advocate and an educator really made the experience so much better,” said Jenny.
In April, Lindsay took in Tribute, a black lab from Minneapolis. Tribute is set to go to a prison on August 9. “Everyone always asks ‘how can you let him go?’ Of course, I’m going to miss him, but you have to remember the end goal, and that you are doing this to help somebody that needs that assistance… I signed up for this and I knew this was the end. It’s about helping someone else have a better quality of life,” Lindsay explained.
The responsibilities of a being puppy home and trainer are huge. For over six months, the trainer teaches basic commands such as sit, down, settle, positional commands such as heel and side, and works on potty and crate training. The trainer is responsible for vet care and grooming as well. Trainers also bring the dogs everywhere to properly socialize in different public environments. After the home training, the dogs then go to a prison and are partnered with two inmates who further train the dogs for another year. Then, the dogs return to CPL for more specialized training, preparing them for the individual they will service. Once they complete training, they are partnered with an individual who will benefit greatly from their care.
To learn more about our Culture of Giving, please click here. To learn more about CPL and how you can volunteer, visit https://k94life.org
It’s been more than four years since the halls of West’s headquarters saw its first four-legged visitor, the sweet and lovable Canine Partners for Life puppy-in-training Dookie. Since then, Friend, Star, Cret, Journey, Digger, Muzzy and a host of others have filled the halls with warm brown eyes and wagging tails.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary, Canine Partners for Life (CPL) has been dedicated to training service dogs, home companion dogs, residential companion dogs, and courthouse companion dogs to assist individuals who have a wide range of physical, neurological, and cognitive disabilities.
The purpose of a service dog is to assist and bring joy to someone’s life. To train a service dog is a massive undertaking, with the first year of that training coming in the form of “puppy-in-training.” West volunteers have had the privilege of sharing in the raising of three puppies in training as part of its ongoing commitment to Canine Partners for Life, an organization dedicated to placing service dogs. The most recent of those is an adorable black lab named Cret.
For the past 10 years, Janet Cooper, Manager, Admin Services, Exton, has done it all at Canine Partners for Life: from cuddling puppies in the kennel, to giving demonstrations, to serving on the Board of Directors.
Summer interns from West’s Exton, Pennsylvania headquarters recently participated in a volunteer day at the newly renovated Canine Partners for Life facility in Cochranville, Pennsylvania.
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