Donate $10 to get training treats for the RIVER litter!

Donate $25 to help get preventatives for the RIVER litter.

Donate $50 for a tank of gas for the paws4people puppy van as it transports the litter to all of their different training locations & outings.

Donate $75 for the litter to receive new training equipment.

Donate $100 to help cover expenses encountered during our socialization & environmental exposure training sessions.

Fundraisers

paws4people® foundation

Puppies are so fun!! It is so important to us that our puppies are having fun all while working hard to learn commands and Public Access Train. Each puppy of the litter has their own fun and quirky personality! GIBBS is actually very photogenic but would rather play jokes on his trainer when she tries to take his photo! 

Who is your role model?? Our puppies often look up to the big dogs within the UNCW Assistance Dog Training Program and Assistance Dogs placed with clients! By watching the big dogs, our puppies are able to learn proper Public Access Skills! 

WOAH!! Look how big GIBBS is! It’s like we blinked and this litter doubled in size. They have grown up into the most beautiful, smart, and lovable Golden Retrievers! They are now 18 weeks and next week they will be heading to our paws4prisions program where  they will begin the next phase of their training!

Best friends or siblings?? How about both? ANDRETTI and PENSKE are quite the dynamic duo within the litter. As our puppies grow up, they create special bonds with certain siblings. These two are equally adorable as they are sweet!

GIBBS loved his trip to the bookstore last week! He worked hard training in public and proved he was a brave boy as he worked through new stimuli and challenges. He chose this book because just like the bear, he is not afraid of anything!

ANDRETTI is a sweet little girl and her calm personality has stolen hearts of the Puppy Development volunteers! Here she is at just 3 weeks old. 

The RIVER puppies experienced their very first outing out of their puppy pouches! They loved getting to meet all the people around the store and have to say that they look pretty official in their new puppy vests! DANICA put on her cutest face for all of the fellow shoppers to make sure she got as much attention as possible. 

“Leave it” is one of the most critical commands our dogs learn. Our puppies learn this at a young age and practice it in different locations to help them generalize the command. DANICA says “this is easy trainer mom!!”

At our Puppy Development Center our puppies get to explore our outdoor stimulation area. Here they can run and jump on our equipment which exposes them to different textures and obstacles. GIBBS loves to run in the sunshine with his siblings!

GIBBS and his mom, RIVER, enjoyed their playtime together recently. Our puppies love when they get to spend quality time with their mom and RIVER also teaches them proper dog behavior while she is around them. 

We are throwing it all the way back to the itty bitty puppy days when the RIVER litter was still eating mush. Mush ensures that our puppies are getting all the proper nutrients while they also nurse on their mom. In this photo the puppies were just 4 weeks old!

When our puppies are 6 weeks or younger, they begin their Public Access Training on our puppy pouches. This ensures that our puppies are kept safe and well controlled during these outings as they begin to get used to being out in public. DANICA enjoyed taking a nap in her pouch while visiting Target for her first outing a few weeks ago! 

Every litter has a princess of the group and ANDRETTI is 100% the queen pup! She loves to chase her siblings around during play time and is full of personality! 

Now that you have met most of the puppies, we wanted to give you a sneak peek into their first few days inside of the Puppy Development Center. GIBBS has been a calm sweet boy ever since his whelping box days. 

First up to the starting line of becoming a Service Dog is… DANICA. DANICA is coming in at 7.8 pounds, her race car color is purple, and she is best known for walking nicely on her leash. Has DANICA stolen your heart?? 

Next to the starting line of becoming a Service Dog is… ANDRETTI. ANDRETTI is coming in at 11.2 pounds, her race car color is pink, and she is best known for loving all the Puppy Development Center volunteers and being ready to work hard. 

Next to the starting line of becoming a Service Dog is… GIBBS. GIBBS is coming in at 9.4 pounds, his racecar is pizza themed, and he is best known for his perfect posture. Thank you to  Mrs. Kelly George for sponsoring GIBBS. 

Our mission is educating and empowering people to utilize Assistance Dogs to transform their lives. We provide highly trained, customized, and insured Assistance Dogs to people with disabilities at no cost. These dogs change and often times save lives. 

The happy parents, RIVER & BRAXTON are proud to introduce you to their 

. Born on October 27th, 2020. All of these puppies began their training at three days old to become the world's best Assistance Dogs. The goal of this campaign is to raise a portion of the money required to get this entire litter through it's training process resulting in it's placement with individuals with disabilities. This process takes approximately two years and costs nearly 

The first phase of this training begins at 3 days old and lasts through 20 weeks which takes place at our Puppy Development Center (PDC)  in Wilmington, NC. 

 to provide the training needed for 1 puppy to complete its socialization and environmental exposure training at the PDC. 