Raise a Puppy, Change Lives

06/20/2024

This handsome young man is now 9 months old! He recently had a spectacular evaluation by the GDA|TLC trainers, AND won 2nd place in the obedience trials at the annual Open House - WOW, WAY TO GO, WALLABY!!

04/24/2024

Happy International Guide Dog Day to Elphie, the first guide dog puppy we raised!

04/21/2024

Today Wallaby got to visit L.A. County fire station 154 in Covina with our Inland Empire puppy-raising support group. He and his fellow service puppies-in-training learned about firefighters and their equipment. They all did SO well, choosing to check out the equipment, getting up close with a firefighter in turnouts, and jumping on a fire engine. Way to go, Wallaby and friends!

04/21/2024

04/12/2024

While Wallaby was at the kennel, his puppy raisers borrowed nearly-9mo female yellow lab Paisley and headed out for some training and fun! We went to Exposition Park in LA, visiting the California Science Center, the Natural History Museum and the Rose Garden. It was a beautiful day! However, I have never in my 8 years of puppy raising been around so many children who needed training in how to behave around a service dog (helpful beginner tip: calling out "DOGGIE DOGGIE!" is NOT appropriate). In my experience, usually the kids know that a working dog shouldn't be approached and it's the adults who are poorly behaved but that was not our experience today. Paisley took it all in stride, thankfully. Good job training her, Jenny Thomas !

After eating our lunch, we headed to the La Brea Tar Pits and walked around to look at the outdoor exhibits. So interesting and an ever -changing landscape! We took the scenic route through the Hollywood Hills, got dinner at In 'n' Out, then headed back to GDA to swap out puppies. What a fun day!

04/11/2024

Wallaby is having his first kennel stay! Such a big boy. The guide dogs in training were having a pool party to the left, so Wallaby wouldn't look at me for the photo! 😀

03/05/2024

We were surprised and pleased when a supporter sent us this link to a video made about Valoo and his service dog handler. We're so proud of him!

Kim Pennington works for a non-profit organization that offers the only emergency, temporary, and residential care for children in their community. They are ...

02/21/2024

We're so proud of Valoo living out his purpose!

02/20/2024

Wallaby is 5 months old! He towers over his update board now. He'd like to thank his sponsor, MIA, and wish a very happy birthday to his littermates .waffles .umma .world.gda , Waverly, Whisker, and Wookie!

First photo description: Wallaby, a yellow lab, sits next to an update board. He's several inches taller than it is now.
Second photo description: an update board that says Wallaby at the top, his age as 5 months old, his weight at 41.2 lb (a 10.2 lb increase since his last weigh in). His current focus is confidence and novel environments and impulse control. His favorites are Raven, Navi, and relaxing with his family. At the bottom it has our Instagram account address and says thank you to his sponsor MIA.

.tlc.inlandempire

02/18/2024

Wallaby got to attend his first monthly meeting today with the Inland Empire GDA|TLC group! He got to see his buddy .voyage_gda_tlc and his brother Wookie, along with a host of other service puppies-in-training. We worked on focusing around distractions like toys, ducks, and other dogs, and did a great job! What fun!
.tlc.inlandempire

02/18/2024

Wallaby got to go to his first women's ministry coffee chat today, and he did so well! He was a great ambassador for GDA|TLC. Afterward we went to a novel grocery store to get the ingredients for our family FUNdue Valentine's dinner. What a good boy! .tlc.inlandempire

02/16/2024

Enjoying the sunshine and looking like such a big boy!

.tlc.inlandempire

02/15/2024

Wallaby wants to be your Valentine! .tlc.inlandempire

02/10/2024

Wallaby and his buddy Valor has fun and did great at their post PK assessment this morning! Check out the snow-capped mountains photo-bombing the last pic too. 💙 Great job, puppies!
.sandiego.pups .tlc.inlandempire

02/10/2024

This good boi helped pitch out some yarn (he was very interested in the alpaca yarn! ) and some chocolates - and was SUCH a great representative for GDA|TLC for all the people we talked to about the program while at Trader Joe's - hopefully we'll get some new raisers in our area. Great job, Wallaby!
.tlc.inlandempire

02/07/2024

That's our boy! Valoo is already hard at work changing lives as a facility dog at the Wichita Children's Home. We're so proud of him and his handler!
.sandiego.pups

02/01/2024

Rain doesn't bother Wallaby!
.tlc.inlandempire

01/27/2024

Today's graduation day! We're so proud of Valoo and grateful to take part in the celebration of 12 new service dog teams! You can watch the ceremony at 10am PST on GSA|TLC's page

Many thanks to for the graphic!
.sandiego.pups