Virginia Tech vet students to raise puppies for Saint Francis Service Dogs

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BLACKSBURG (WSLS 10) - Three 9-week-old puppies are have enrolled in class at Virginia Tech, and the 'degrees' they earn will help their 'clients' live better lives.

Instructors of the charter class at Virginia Tech's Puppy University met their first students Friday. Puppy University is a new partnership with Saint Francis Service Dogs and Virginia Tech.

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"The puppies will come to the veterinary college during the day and they'll learn foundational skills. Be socialized," explained Bess Pierce, a former Saint Francis board member and associate professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences and director of the Center for Animal Human Relationships at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.

A team of veterinary students and faculty will raise Tucker, Koda and Esme until they're 14-months-old. That's when the Golden and two Labrador retrievers are expected to graduate to formal service dog training.

"This is an exceptional opportunity for the veterinary students to really see the importance of human animal bond and that connection that, we all go to that school because we have a connection with animals, and this lets them see that important end result of being able to raise an animal. A dog, a puppy in this case and place it with a person that is in need."

Each dog will be at school by day, and home with his puppy-raiser team at night.

"I'm really excited about helping with the service dog community," said third-year veterinary student Jennifer Tonkin who will raise Emse, the black lab. "It's really important to have a working dogs that can help people with disabilities. So I'm really excited to be a part of that."

Saint Francis has been raising and training service dogs in Roanoke for nearly 20 years. The non-profit helps children and adults with disabilities become more self-sufficient with the help of a professionally trained service dog.

The vet teams will use Saint Francis' structured training program for puppy raising.

"We will follow their guidelines in training and we train side-by-side with them."

This is not Saint Francis' first puppy raiser program. Saint Francis has a similar partnership with the Bland Correctional Center, where offenders raise puppies to be future service dogs.

Virginia Tech's Veterinary Teaching Hospital will provide care for the puppies..

"It's a big project overall. It does take a village to raise a puppy," Pierce said.