IRVING – Lonestar isn’t the only puppy Larry Nelson has volunteered to raise on his journey to becoming a service dog.
While Lonestar is the most recent family member, at No. 5., Kaz is Nelson’s fourth puppy. Nelson has been raising Kaz, who he refers to as Lonestar’s brother, for the last year and a half with the help of Canine Companions.
A puppy in the organization’s service dog training program starts with puppy training at home alongside a volunteer puppy raiser for about a year and a half. Then, in the matriculation phase, they go through professional training for about six months at the Kinkeade Campus, where they learn advanced, task-based skills. Finally, they graduate to become a service dog and are specifically matched with a person enrolled in the Canine Companions program.