A black Labrador Retriever sits attentively in tall green grass, wearing a collar with a tag.

Puppy Raiser, Alison Ardern

Best thing is becoming part of a community

Ali joined IGDB in January 2019 as a member of staff and is now working as an instructor within the organisation.

“Growing up we always had dogs as part of our family and my late father always wanted to Puppy Raise but didn’t get the chance to. I decided to look into the idea and discussed it with my family as I knew that we would all have to be on board to make it a success.

Our time with Ezra has been an extraordinary journey and we have received great support from our puppy raising supervisor Catherine. The only downside was knowing that she would eventually have to leave us, but we were armed with the knowledge that to reach her potential she was going to have to go to ‘big school’ and onto bigger and better things.

Two Labrador Retrievers, one black and one cream-colored, play together on a sunny lawn with a pink spiky toy in the cream dog's mouth, with a house and garden visible in the backg

The best thing about puppy raising is being part of the community that is Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind.

We have really enjoyed meeting Ezra’s siblings at Puppy Raising classes and comparing notes about similar little quirks within the E-litter of which there was another 12!

A person walks a black dog on a wet driveway in front of parked vehicles and Victorian-style houses on an overcast day.

I even got the chance to meet Ezra’s mother which was like coming full circle from the first time we expressed our interest in becoming a puppy raiser and saw the photograph of the E-litter with the brood bitch Nora and her family. We look forward to following her progress through her training and have our fingers crossed that she goes on to become a Guide Dog for a vision impaired person or an Assistance Dog to help a family of a child with autism.