Puppy Raising

What is puppy raising?

Although the majority of our beautiful puppies go to their forever home as small puppies growing up with their children, we still have a requirement for puppy raisers for both our adult service dog programmes and our therapy programmes.

Puppy raising is where an individual or family agree to take a pup into their home and raise it for a period of time in accordance with My Canine Companion guidelines and under the supervision of our training staff.

We need puppy raising volunteers

This presents a unique opportunity for volunteers to assist in creating a meaningful change in the life of a child living with Autism and his/her family.

My Canine Companion requires volunteers who are committed to the aims of the programme. . Our puppy raisers are a vital component in our adult service and therapy dog programmes. The work undertaken by our puppy raisers lays the foundation for a stable, dependable and trustworthy Assistance dog for a child and his or her family.

Puppy Raise for MCC

Puppy raisers ensure that the  Puppies are well socialised in a whole range of settings, these include the local Shopping Centre, Public Transport, Restaurants, Church’s and other public buildings and places. By exposing the puppy to these experiences the Puppy Raiser is preparing the puppy for its future role as service dog. Puppy raisers will attend  our Puppy training classes  once a month with other puppy raisers and also parents on our puppy programme who are socialising their pup to work with their family.  There are also additional optional  socialisation classes on a regular basis where the puppies are consistently evaluated.  Our training staff are always available to answer any questions that a Puppy Raiser might have.

Do you have what it takes?

If you think you have what it takes to be a puppy raiser then please contact us and request a fostering form.

Once we receive the completed form one of our administration staff will be in contact with you. Join our Puppy raising program and play an important role in an amazing journey which ends in the provision of a highly trained and skilled Service Dog.

Training Dog Boarders (Cork Only)

Would you like the opportunity to provide a temporary home for one of our dogs in the final stages of their training. 

Most of these dogs will have come from their forever home where they have been since they were very young and will return there as qualified service dogs after their 4 months intensive final  training.

We do  not believe kennels are a suitable environment for these dogs and we depend on our temporary borders to provide homes for them while they are not at training school (ie Monday - Friday nights and weekends)

Our dogs are typically at training school from 9am -4pm Monday to Friday. 

This volunteer opportunity suits many people working in the Cork city area who can drop the dog to us in the morning and collect them again after work. 

It gives the volunteer a chance to have all the benefits of the company of a dog without the restrictions of owning their own dog. 

Short Term Boarders (nationwide)

As we do not like to have our dogs in kennels at any time we always require short term boarders to take either working dogs or puppies into their homes for anything from overnight to 2 months.   

Short term boarders come under the same MCC guidelines as temporary boarders.

Dog Boarding Guidelines

If you are interested in becoming a dog boarder, for our dogs in training to be qualified service dogs, please review the following guidelines and complete the details below. When you have completed the application form post or Email the form back to our head office in Cork.

Dog Boarders;

• Must have a fenced and secure garden.

• Dog is to be fed according to our guidelines.

• Dog shall live with the family for a period of not more than 4 months.

• Dog Boarder agrees to return the dog upon request.

All dog boarder costs in relation to food and veterinary costs will be borne by MCC.