"It's really hard to become a guide dog."
"Our dogs have to decide whether it's safe for their person"
"and make an independent decision."
"Some cases can be life and death."
"We're looking at the puppies and seeing how they're progressing"
"and trying to find out if they are viable for the program."
- Good boy, Raffi. - "I think she's ready to go."
"She did great."
"They handled the busy downtown area fine."
- "Did a great job." - Paco's doing it.
It could end the entire thing.
"Paco, he did something that caused my heart to drop."
He relieved inappropriately which is a big no-no
in guide-dog... training.
- Oh, no. - Oh.
It's a pretty big mistake.
If he relieves with a blind person, the blind person's not gonna know.
They don't know how to care for that.
He needs to be able to be reliable in public.
We've just had this guy for 17 months.
And now, he does this. Right in front of everybody watching.
It really was...
well, Paco, it was really, really disappointing.
It was.
Do your business.
"With a guide that is working with a blind or visually impaired person"
we want to ensure that the dog is relieving on a schedule
"so they know when the dog will need to relieve itself."
"I got a phone call from Devin"
"the person in the field down in Southern California."
And Paco unfortunately didn't follow the schedule.
And he had a relieving accident.
"Devin wasn't quite sure whether we should actually bring him in or not."
It was disappointing, and it was kinda scary
'cause we knew that that was kind of a big mistake.
It was definitely like a hard moment for all six of us...
- We were so stressed. - Like, we...
"My thought was because he did not have a history of relieving accidents"
"that he was probably good to come in."
But he will be closely observed by the training department.
"If it did happen again, there's a possibility that he'd be career changed"
Come over here. What a good boy.
"We're so relieved."
- I can breathe again. - We can breathe again.
You know, we kind of left out like, this big, collective breath
like all six of us.
"We were glad that he was going to be able to show"
- like what a good dog he actually is. - Yeah.
"The day before his evaluation"
Raffi chewed the inside of my house slipper.
"And then, that day at work, he had trash dipped."
- Raffi, sit. - "Tami called me this morning"
"and she said she was rethinking the evaluation"
"and she said: I can't return Raffi for formal training"
"knowing that his house behavior"
"does continue to be a little bit of an issue."
"We are actually going to put him in a transfer home"
"so we can get him in a different environment altogether."
One of the main things that puppy raisers are working on
is appropriate house manners.
"Not being destructive. Not dipping into the trash."
If a dog doesn't develop reliable house behavior
it could be something that precludes them from being a guide dog.
We drop dogs for poor house behavior.
I mean, it's one of the higher reasons that we career change dogs.
"A lot of times, when a dog practices a behavior in one environment"
"there's some memory there on how he's gotten away with certain things"
"or just some behaviors that are sort of pattern."
And so taking him out of that environment
is usually really, really helpful
and makes the dog much more successful.
"So, the plan is, Tami will find a different raiser home"
"and fingers and paws crossed, he'll decide"
"I really do want to be a guide dog and will have awesome home behavior."
- Hello? - "Hi, Stacey, it's Jenna Bullis"
"from the Breeding Department at Guide Dogs."
- Calling to give you an update on Amara - Yeah, that'd be great.
"Before this litter even came along"
we sort of had our eye on them in Breeding.
Her father has been a very successful stud dog for us
in the Golden colony. He's our most successful stud.
And her mother..
"her pedigree has done really well for us as well."
"So, we're looking at Amara."
"When Guide Dogs first started in the '40s"
"we used to try and get dogs from shelters"
"and one of the things that became apparent really quickly is that"
"not only was it hard to find dogs"
"that had the right temperamental characteristics"
but you had dogs that had physical issues
and maybe couldn't have as long of a working life.
"In the Breeding Department, we focus a lot of work and effort"
"into genetically selecting for the dogs"
"That have those highest quality of traits"
"so that they'll pass that on to their offspring."
"You want to pick the best dogs to breed"
"so that the dogs that go into training are the best that they can be."
"I'm happy and surprised."
I have raised four full-time dogs
and none of them have gone on to be guides.
"But if she became a breeder, at least she's still active in the program."
Raffi, I see you... You're adorable. Hi, little puppy.
I love you.
So, last night, I had a little raiser-to-puppy-in-training talk
with Raffi.
But it was a little lopsided. I did all the talking
and he just looked at me with his adorable
adorable puppy face and eyes.
And I was saying to Raffi, "No more slippers. No more trash dipping."
And he just looked at me, and then he licked me.
And so, that was my way of knowing that Raffi got it
and he wants to be a guide dog.
Are you Jessica?
- "Yeah." - Thank you. Oh, thank you.
- All right, are you ready for Raffi? - Yes!
- So excited to meet him. - So, his... his nicknames
- are of course Raffi-Taffi. - Okay.
- Raff, Raff-Raff... - We always... We always give them, like
- the craziest nicknames. It's like... - Exactly. Uh, Raff-Raff.
Raff-Taff, Taff-Taff.
I'm excited.
- Here we go. - It's gonna be a little bit...
Oh, hello.
- Oh, he looks so excited. - Here. I'll take my hands off.
- Just one more kiss. - Oh, yeah.
- Raffi. - Take your time.
You're always be number 25, little boy.
- Twenty-five, wow. - I love you. I love you.
It's always hard to bring a dog back, even when you know it's coming.
It's always hard, and I do feel for her
and I'm hoping I can do right by her as well,
that we can get him back up here for recall and then graduate.
Okay, puppy.
All right, thank you, my dear.
- All right, thank you so much. - Thank you. You are so... thank you!
- Thank you. - And I'll see you at graduation.
- Okay. - We're gonna hope for that.
- We're gonna say it. - Yes.
All about Raffi, what he needs.
Good boy.
My little boy.
My little puppy.
As puppy raisers, we are eternal optimists.
But I really do think that Raffi will rise to the occasion.
Our first announcement.
This is our last meeting for our three ladies over here.
Tulane, Tartan, and Amara.
What we say in Guide Dogs is, "It takes a community"
right, "to raise a puppy."
So, if we can have a big round of applause
"for them and all the hard work."
It's time for them to essentially go off to college
and go back to Guide Dogs for their formal training.
Amara's going in for a breeder eval.
We're a real community and family here, so when one of our puppies leaves
it's always a little sad celebration.
We got to get a picture of all of them tonight.
"Tulane is going back with her sister, Tartan"
"who is also in our club."
It's good that they both are going together.
They know each other. They probably will get to see each other.
"I keep reminding myself that this is temporary"
and this is gonna end and I have to let go of her.
"But if she makes it, she's gonna have a huge impact on someone's life."
Yeah. Good girl.
"When I got the call, they said.."
"We want you to come and get you a dog."
It was just the most...
joyous, happiest moment of my whole life thus far.
"I was born four months early."
"And at three days old, I lost my sight."
"My retina detached."
"I do not have any vision. I have light perception."
"Which means that I can see light and dark."
"I started learning how to use my cane when I was three."
- How was your day? - It was great.
- How was yours? - Yeah. It was really good.
"I have a twin who's blind, her name's Nikki."
"We're best friends."
"We've been roommates for the last 23 years"
"and we love living together because nobody else can understand"
"like twins do."
So, I met my first blind role model with a guide dog at eight years old.
And I just remember saying, "Wow..."
"she is so independent with her dog! She gets around great"
"and I want to be just like that."
"My freshman year, I was crossing the street"
"and I was running late to my English class."
"I was not listening."
"This person, thank goodness, ran up to me, and she was like.."
"Do not cross, there is a bus coming."
And I was like, "Oh, man."
"I better just be really careful from now on."
"And I think that with a dog, that wouldn't happen..."
"because a dog would have stepped in front of me and said.."
"You can't cross yet."
"I've always known that I was going to get a dog."
"I just didn't know when."
"And now, at 23 years old, I finally am getting this dog."
After about 18 months of us having the puppies
"they go back up to Guide Dogs campus."
"You really get to know the dog and it becomes a best friend to you."
But then, you've got to keep in your mind that they're not yours
and that they're gonna be going back.
"It's hard, but it's fulfilling at the same time."
"Today, we're just cherishing some last moments"
"and last memories with her."
"She has been our baby every single day."
"But at the same time, we're very excited."
And Tartan, what do you think?
She's gonna train for what she's meant to do.
She's so loving. She's gonna do fantastic.
Bliss.
"They come to us when they are eight weeks old."
"Wherever I go, she follows me."
"So you get attached fairly quickly and it is really hard to let go."
I am gonna be sad but I know that she'll be going for a good cause
and she's gonna help someone who's visually impaired.
"Once we drop her off, we will see her at the graduation."
We will, right? You are gonna graduate.
"Come in. Heads up."
All right. Let's go, Amara.
Good job, Amara.
Recall arrivals, that's you.
"I just wanna make sure Amara gets a roommate if she can."
I think that'll make her feel more comfortable, if she has a friend.
Yeah. We definitely try to get almost all the dogs roommates
depending on their behavior
and they also play out in the yards together to socialize.
- Okay. She'll love that. - Yeah.
"I'm really excited about Amara."
In the Breeding Department, we're always looking
for just those perfect type temperaments
confident but not too distracted type of Goldens.
"So I'm hoping that Amara will pass all the health tests she needs to pass."
"Her temperament is really lovely"
"and all of the reports have been really great."
"So, our fingers are crossed about Amara."
Come here, sweet love. Let's go.
"I think the hardest part is that when you bring them back up"
"you have to put them into a kennel, and then close the door and walk away."
"And they're looking at you like, Okay. What are you doing?"
"I'm going with you, right? And you have to just leave them."
- I'm sure she'll be okay. - Yeah. We'll take great care of her.
Come here.
We're here to drop off Tulane, and this is her final day with us, and...
she's going to go and we're really sad.
"I have so many fond memories with her, but..."
"this is it. This is her time to shine. And she has the decision"
to either be a good guide dog, or...
- just... - A good pet.
Good pet, yeah.
Tulane. Hey. Pretty princess. Tulo, Tulo, Tulo.
"This is the same feeling I had when I dropped my daughter to school."
"Only difference is I can see my daughter."
"She can come for the breaks."
Isn't that cute? Look here.
"With her, once she's in that door..."
"I'll only be able to hear how she's doing..."
"and not be able to see her."
Right here.
All right. Here we go.
No, no, no. I don't think we can go out. Come here.
- All right. Here's the bone. - Oh. Oh.
- What's that? - You want it?
Yes. What is that?
"It's very hard to let go of her."
Bye, Tulane.
Okay. And we get out of the way.
Bye, Tulane.
"But hopefully, she'll be successful and she'll make a great guide dog."
I'm gonna miss the touch of her soft ears.
- Yeah. - Almost there.
"We tell ourselves that Tartan is going to puppy college."
So, we're hoping that she graduates so she can get herself a job.
Oh, I guess there's recall.
- Oh, my gosh. - This is it, Tartan.
"My daughter is amazing."
"She just said: Mommy, it is okay. We have to think positive."
"We knew what is gonna happen in the future with Tartan"
"and we have to think about the future of somebody else."
So, that made me very proud.
You guys can go in with her and, uh, take her harness off
and, you can leave her collar on.
I just wanna say I love you...
and I'm very thankful for you. I just wanna say you do a good job.
And I'm very proud of you, okay?
Okay.
Okay, Mom. It's better to leave before she notices.
Yes.
Bye, Tartan. Love you.
Bye, Tartan.
It's okay. It's okay.
I knew this was gonna happen.
It's okay.
She's gonna do great.
And hopefully, she's gonna help somebody.
Oh, there they are.
Oh, no.
This is sad, but Paco is doing something more noble
not just being with our family for a while
but he's going to learn how to take care of a person who can't see.
Hey, you okay?
Dear God, please help this puppy be the best guide dog puppy ever.
We don't know where he will go or what he will do
but we know already that he's done so much for us.
Take care of Paco.
- Amen. - Amen.
This week has been incredibly painful because we've all been echoing
"Oh, this is his last Monday with us, and this is his last Tuesday with us"
and taking him on outings and being extra proud of him.
"We've all been sort of cherishing our last moments with him."
That's Pacino.
- Hey, Pacino. - It's your brother.
- Say hello, Pacino. - My God. He's so big.
- Why does he look like that? - He's cute.
Well, Pacino also was a runt of the litter.
- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you. I'm Kiel.
Do you think they remember each other, mama?
- Oh. - They are. Look at that.
It's kind of neat knowing that he'll be in training together.
- Yeah. - Yeah. That they'll have each other.
- He's my second dog. - Same with... Same with Paco.
Pacino, let's go.
"He's going back on the puppy truck up to the Guide Dogs campus."
"So it's a bit sad."
"I really hope to see him at graduation."
- It's nice... - Hold on to each other.
Say hello, Paco.
- Kiel, are you okay? - Yeah. I'm good.
Say your final goodbyes, kids.
I think we're ready.
- You're ready? - Yup.
- Okay. - Please... please take good care
- of him. - Oh, we will. I promise you.
- I know. - I love him very much,
- and I'm scared he's gonna be lonely. - Oh, no.
"Paco, I love you."
"Bye, Paco."
Wanna go outside, girl?
Paco's made it back for formal training
but there could be things that we might not have anticipated
"that might cause a career change."
You do all the training and then he might have bad eyes.
- Who's this? - "Tulane."
In order to be a guide dog, your health has to be perfect.
Okay. Let me look at you, you little 43-pounder.
"They go through a complete assessment of their health"
"to make certain that their hips are all working"
- "their elbows are all working..." - Good boy, Pacino.
- Hi, Paco. - Hi.
"All of their blood work is good. Their heart is strong."
"There are certain dogs that unfortunately are career changed"
because medically, they're not able to take on this job.
Oh, you're cute, Amara.
"Main things that we're looking for are arthritic changes that down the road"
"might be an issue for the ability of the dogs to do their job."
- Everything's normal there? - Yup, they're good.
- Nice. - Great.
All right. All done.
"If they pass all of their medical"
"then they start their 12 weeks of training."
Thirty percent are career changed somewhere along that training path.
"You never know. I mean.. you know, things can go wrong just like that."
"If she was career changed, I would be really surprised."
She's just so calm. And she has such a nice disposition.
For Pacino to make it to a working guide, it would mean
"that all of the work we've put into him has paid off."
"I know she's doing everything that she can, as a dog"
"to, like, be the best that she can,"
but not every dog is meant to be a guide dog.
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