A Breed Apart

Helping Paws maintains a breeding program to ensure a consistent number of dogs in the training pipeline to meet future client needs.  There are currently eight dogs in the breeding program although not all are actively producing litters due to either age (too young) or timing.   One to two litters are whelped in both the spring and the fall.  This timing coincides with graduation cycles which are also held twice a year.  To insure the best health and safety for the dog and her pups-to-be, each dog in the breeding program produces no more than three litters, spaced at least one year apart.

Enough can't be said about the selfless caretaker homes that serve as the loving parents to the Helping Paws dogs chosen for the breeding program.  Their duties are legion, lifelong and critical to the ongoing success of Helping Paws.

Prior to breeding, all breeding dogs must meet eye, heart, hip and elbow certifications at two years of age.  Once these certifications are met, the dog begins her career; that of mother to future generations of Helping Paws service dogs.  And the real work begins for the caretaker home partner.

Here are just a few of the duties included in the job description of a HP breeding dog caretaker home:

1)  Chauffer (Canine Escort Service?):  Someone has to take the dog on her dates.  Not just any dog can be a Helping Paws sire - only the best and brightest will do (not to mention an impeccable pedigree and a proven track record of producing phenomenal progeny). 

2)  Cycle management:  We're not talking the two wheeled kind here.  Heat cycles can be slightly messy and female dogs in cycle kind of grouchy and restless.  Just think of caretaker homes as "season-ed" veterans.

3)  Vet Visits:  Speed dial is a very good thing. Sid Hartman's "close personal friends" are total strangers compared to the relationship the caretaker home develops with the vet and the staff at Helping Paws when their dog whelps a litter.  From pre-breeding progesterone testing, ultrasounds to confirm pregnancies, x-rays to confirm the number of puppies prior to whelping, and the subsequent puppy checks and follow-up there is a plethora of opportunity for vet-caretaker bonding.

Finally, add the intangibles such as providing a stimulating, healthy environment with lots of appropriate activity and socialization to exercise the pups growing minds and bodies.  And of course, the volumes of daily laundry and other housekeeping tasks and it's clear these folks really earn what all would say is the most awesome reward of all; the wonder of watching the miracle of birth and life play out in the soft muzzles, silky ears, sweet paws, and wagging tails of the adorable pups as they begin their journey as potential service dogs.