Wednesday, September 30, 2020

September Volunteer of the Month

Congratulations to the Smith family, the September Volunteers of the Month! Thank you for helping #DogsChangeLives! Read their story below about their volunteer experience.

Guest post by Julie Smith, puppy raiser for Susquehanna Service Dogs

Sometimes small decisions have a significant, lasting impact. When our American Heritage Girl’s unit decided to complete the Pet Care Badge in 2015, I had no idea how it would affect my daughter’s life and the rest of my family, too. 

As part of the Pet Care Badge, a demonstration dog came to our troop meeting and showed us some of the ways a service dog helps people in their daily lives. Since my daughter Hannah loves animals and loves helping people, she immediately started asking if we could become puppy raisers. At 10 years old, we thought she was too young to take on the huge responsibility. However, she never gave up asking and finally we relented when she was 13 years old and was ready to take on the challenge.


In March 2019, SSD Paisley entered our lives as a bundle of joy and energy. Hannah was true to her word and managed to balance the responsibility of puppy raising and school work. We learned a lot from our training classes and were amazed at the amount of work that goes into training a service dog, but the community of volunteers and staff totally supported us along the way.

While working with SSD Paisley, Hannah discovered her passion. She loves training dogs and loves how much people’s lives can be changed by a service dog. She seeks out additional ways to volunteer whether it is representing SSD at fundraising events or helping out with a Puppy Hugging event. She helped her brother complete his Eagle Scout project by building playground equipment for the dogs in SSD’s fields. She is even exploring the possibility of a college degree related to companion animal science.



Like many of the volunteers, we couldn’t stop with just one. In February 2020, SSD Zuzu came to live with us. Having two service dogs along with our pet dog during the COVID-19 quarantine was definitely a mixed blessing, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. For us, the hardest part is saying goodbye. We were excited for SSD Paisley and sad for us when she left us to begin training as an explosive detection K9. We know she will love it and will help keep our country safe.


Will we be raising more service dogs? Absolutely! As with many service opportunities, you gain so much more than you give. While significantly helping others, our lives are filled with joyful bundles of fur and slobbering puppy kisses. What could be better?