Puppies Saved From Drowning

One of my Designs For Good projects is PawPADs. They are a service dog training center which is starting from ground zero. Well they are not at zero any longer. This is turning into an amazing story. In a matter of months PawPADs has been growing rapidly. They were given 7 acres, a house for the new training center, have attracted a bevy of volunteers, and now they acquired 7 Labrador puppies destined to become service dogs. That is, after $25,000 is invested in training and keeping each dog over several years.


These puppies are destined to become service dogs now. They were destined to be drowned by a heartless owner.

Earlier today I did my fist photo shoot with the dogs. The plan is to follow the dogs through their years of training and then into their service appointment for a person in need. The dogs are trained for over 70 different behaviors such as opening doors, turning on lights, and picking things up from the floor. These behaviors are the 'service' in service dogs.

Far beyond that of course is the human-canine bond that these dogs provide. These newborns are so small and weak now it is hard to imagine what an absolute essential role they will play during their life in service of another.