 My name is Lisa Bradley and my daughter Rikki and I have raised two puppies. I've raised four guide dog puppies. My third dog Brianie is graduating today. I've been a puppy raiser for about three or four years and done four dogs in that time. And we are in the process of raising our third guide dog puppy. Today I have with me Rafa, Carlo and Zolday. The critical learning period is occurring in those early stages of life. Our puppy raisers are, you know, it's a 24-7 job. It can be quite full on in the early days, but then as most of you will say it's quite a rewarding job in the end. We'd never had a dog in our family, but there'd been a lot of requests for one. Becoming a puppy raiser is great fun, especially if you love dogs. And we've all got the end goal in mind to give a dog to a client to give them freedom and independence. We have currently about 175 puppies on the program. The pups are usually out with the puppy raisers for 12 to 14 months. It's really important that dogs get this opportunity to be exposed to a corporate environment, to be exposed to being in town in the CBD area and to using lifts and to having to sit quietly for hours on end. It's really important part of their training. You've got good help and support from the GoDog staff. Your mentor that comes down sees you regularly. We have a fantastic community with lots of people who really will be friends for life. And it's funny, my son came along to one of the play groups that we had and on the way back walking back to the car, he turned around and he said to me they're a really good bunch of people. To which I replied, of course they are. They're puppy raisers. The biggest high I've had through my puppy raising journey is meeting Mark who now has Scotty. You give back your puppy at 12 to 14 months of age but when you see them come out of the actual training program it's this grown up dog that's just doing so much. It's incredible. I walked down the street with that dog and I could hold up my head and feel confident and proud and know that with my instructions following the GPS telling him left, right, straight ahead and his ability to do his part of the teamwork in making sure that I'm guided safely, we can go anywhere really. I wanted to become involved with GoDogs Victoria because what their work does for the community how it aids and assists people to have lives where they can approach the challenges that face them with confidence and the support of a dog is just amazing. It's just amazing. To watch these dogs go on from being an eight week old pup to learning all the things that they have to learn to going off to training. Yes it's hard when you give them up at the end of it but if you go in thinking yeah I'm just looking after someone else's dog give it my time, give it my best and know that it's going to go on. Okay I mean we told the kids that when they were going back they knew they'd say goodbye in the morning as they went off to school and when they came home from school I had a different dog and they knew that and it was like whoa let's start again. The little bit that we play in raising these dogs can make a really big difference to someone's life for eight to ten years. Puppy raises, you are absolutely vital to the process. Whether that dog turns out to be a guide dog, a companion dog an ambassador, you know a PTSD dog you are the very important beginning of that good start in life. They're always with you and they always have a place in your heart. It's amazing going on a graduation walk and actually see the trainer with the dog and how far the dog has come since it's left your home. It's the ultimate reward for all your hard work.