Guess who turned 7 months old today?

It would be the Rock star! I can’t believe he is already turning 7 months!

So on his 7 month birthday 7 Reasons why I love raising for SEGDI

1) The people- I have made so many friends with wonderful people who I would have never met otherwise! If I ever have a problem they are always eager to help in any way! I love my puppy raiser family!

2) The puppies- SEGDI has the best puppies in the world and somehow I keep on getting the best of the best! They are all so smart; they love to work on top of having great personalities.

3) The Staff and Trainers- there are not words to describe how wonderful they are! They are fabulous about making the raising process so much fun and do a remarkable job keeping the puppy raisers informed once the puppies go back to college. The trainers are miracle workers!

4) The graduates- these amazing individuals make it a little easier saying good bye to your puppies. They love their guide dogs and it is remarkable how much they bond in such a short amount of time! I love to hear the stories from the graduates!

5) The people involved- from dedicated volunteers who play with the baby puppies and get them used to being touched and handled, to individuals who walk the dogs in for training, to the wonderful puppy sponsors who pick out some great names for these wonderful puppies, and everyone in between! There are some extremely dedicated volunteers at SEGDI!

6) The color and location- I have always loved the color blue and love that SEGDI’s coats are blue! I love that I can wear and accessorize my puppies with as much blue as I want! I love that SEGDI is in Florida; in February when I am sick of the cold weather I can go to walk a thon and it is nice and warm!

7) The impact on the raiser- before I started raising let’s just say I was a bit on the shy side. I hated talking to people whom I didn’t know, but then people came up to me and wanted to talk about the adorable puppy at the end of my leash. Over the past years, I have done so many presentations about guide dogs that I have lost count, which is something I never would have done before I started raising. I can now talk about my puppies and SEGDI for hours! I have also been able to help a lot of people with some of their doggy problems and since I never had a dog before I started raising that would have been something I never would have dreamed of doing 6 years ago. On top of everything that I have learned, my 5 sweet puppies that have been a part of my life the past years have each taught me a life lesson and have left a part of themselves behind.

Thank you Southeastern for having such an impact on my life!

Happy 7 month birthday Rocky!