Guide dog "project"?

Lifestyle Parenting, Household Affairs and Cuisine corner
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Ok so my eldest and middle sons are cub scouts and have been really enjoying all of the activities that help other people - food collections, care bags for soldiers etc. And their school has had this “building bridges” program where the classes are taught about disabilities and that disabled people are more like them than they are unlike them. Middle son had a blind person come to his class and was just fascinated. On top of that, he’s been asking almost daily for a puppy. We already have a “zoo” - smallish house with 2 big dogs and a cat but he loves babies and baby animals so he’s constantly asking for a puppy.

I looked into and am considering being a “puppy trainer” house for guide dogs. They give you an 8-week old puppy and its the responsibilty of the host house to potty-train them and to socialize them - bring them to as many places as possible, get them acccustomed to people, places, new things.You keep the pup till its 12 months old and then it goes off to guide-dog school and the host family can get a new puppy to train (or not). The fact that we already have such a circus going on here is actually a good thing for a guide-dog-to-be. Its copmpletely a volunteer thing, they pay for vet care but food and day-to-day care is the responsibility of the host family (but tax-deductible).

What do you think? Am I nuts for considering this? I’ve not yet broached the subject with hubby, would like to see reactions here first lol!! (Yeah, buk-buk I’m a yellow-bellied chicken lol)

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Hi Mama,
I know several families who have done the guide dog fostering; it's a very rewarding experience and there are very few puppies as cute as baby labs and retrievers. I'm more of a cat person myself, and don't think I could handle the messiness (housebreaking) and getting everything chewed on. If you stay at home and can give the puppy the attention it will need, however, it sounds like it could be a great experience.
If your other dogs are canine good citizens and know some basic commands, are solidly housebroken and well-behaved, etc., they will provide very good role models for the puppy. This is important because the puppy will learn just as much if not more from your dogs than s/he will from you.
It will definitely be hard for your boys to say goodbye when it comes time to let the dog go. From what I understand, if the puppy does not pass testing to proceed on to the next stage of training, the foster family does have the option to adopt, so you might have that possibility. On the other hand, if the puppy does look like a great candidate as a service dog, it will be a really great example for your kids and can provide them with something to be really proud about that they have helped prepare the dog for a really noble role in life.