Staicey Scholtz and Vicki Simons

Co-raising is a term used in the Canine Companions organization that means a pup in-training is being shared by two different volunteer puppy raisers.  There are varying reasons why people would want to co-raise, but the most common ones are shared expenses and a more flexible time commitment.  There are no defined “guidelines” for co-raising issued by Canine Companions—it’s basically an unwritten agreement between two puppy raisers who commit to raising a Canine Companions puppy for eighteen months and share all the responsibility, expenses, and expectations the organization has for that puppy.  In the majority of co-raising situations, one puppy is shared between two puppy raisers. This is not what we decided to do.  We each decided to raise a puppy with the thought that we’d swap pups often throughout the eighteen-month journey. The reason we decided to co-raise was unique:  one of the pups we were assigned is named “McGinnis,” Staicey Scholtz's maiden name.  

To back up, I’m Vicki Simons. I raised $10,000 for DogFest Cleveland in 2018, and earned the privilege of naming a Canine Companions puppy. I submitted the name McGinnis to honor Staicey, as she was stepping down from her role as Northern Ohio Chapter President.  When one submits a name for a puppy, Canine Companions gives a six-month window of time in which a puppy could be born and assigned your chosen name.  To raise a puppy that you named is not guaranteed.  That being said, North Central Puppy Program Manager, Suzanne Sliclen, requested that McGinnis be sent to Ohio to be raised. 

About the time the M litter was born, Staicey was hoping to be assigned her next puppy.  I just turned in a pup. Both Staicey and I have raised nine Canine Companions puppies and were looking forward to starting our tenth.  When Canine Companions assigned a male, black lab the name McGinnis, I asked Staicey if she’d like to raise it.  Since Staicey prefers to raise yellow pups, they came up with the idea of co-raising McGinnis.  Staicey was then offered a yellow, LGX (lab-golden cross) named Prince to raise, and a partnership was formed.  

Since we’d never done this before, we communicated online to other co-raisers across the country about their experiences and asked for advice.  We received many useful tips: for example, it was suggested to start with pups close in age so we are not going through the puppy stage for six months. It was also suggested we should partner with someone we get along with, trust, can speak openly with, who is equally concerned with safety, following rules, and behavior at social events, etc. Both co-raisers should also be flexible. We text and talk a lot, but ultimately decided the best way to keep each other informed was to keep a journal in each dog’s bag.  This is where we share paperwork, training tips, insights to behavior, items the pup is learning and those they might struggle with, among much more.   Being first-time co-raisers, we also agreed to keep things informal. To start, we decided to swap dogs on each Chapter training day, which amounts to two times a month. Since the pups are so young and needing frequent vet visits, it’s taken a little foresight and planning to figure out which dog will be where and to schedule the appropriate appointment. One thing we’ve discovered is that it takes us a few days to adjust to the different names—we are always calling the dog by the wrong name for a day or so.

Here are some other areas we’ve had to think about with co-raising:

--Obedience classes - the pups will be attending two different puppy kindergartens and obedience classes depending on who they are with at the time

--Vetting - pups are exposed to two different vet clinics and staff

--Workplace - Staicey had to get permission to bring two different pups during the school year

--Canine Companions for Independence contracts – We each are listed as the primary puppy raiser for one dog, but both of us signed both contracts

--Matriculation and graduation (fingers crossed) - we will both walk the pups across the stage and present the leash

--Puppy reports - we decided, because of the helpful journals, we’d each do the report for the pup we have at the time

--Costs – we are both keeping track of what we spend and will split the costs equally in the end

I live in the country, am active outdoors, and am retired, so I have lots of time to dedicate to command practice.  Staicey lives in a city (along the coast of Lake Erie) and teaches preschool part-time.  When the dogs are with her, they will get to experience lots of young children in a classroom setting, life along the water, and the busy socialization of restaurants (she doesn’t like to cook, ha!) and shopping.  In the end, we are hoping one of the best benefits of co-raising two dogs is that it will make them more versatile and able to adjust to new environments easily, like professional training.  

We’ll let you know how it turns out. McGinnis goes to professional training in August 2020 and Prince in November 2020. Until then, we’ve got two cute puppies to help shape into future assistance dogs. Canine Companions for Independence is looking forward to reaping the rewards of our little co-raising experiment!