In my opinion, guide dogs and service dogs in general are the best that any person in need of a service could possibly have. Because I think this is so important, I will dedicate an entire article to how you could contribute yourself to match a person in need with a dog that us just right for him or her!
I will illustrate this contribution that anyone (i.e. non-professionals) can make on the example of a guide dog, as this is what I have been explained by this organisation, but I reckon other service dog organisations follow similar guidelines.
So, the idea is that you welcome a service dog in your home and take care of it. It is basically like your pet! Service dog organisations are in need of such foster homes either before the dog’s education starts or after it has been released from the service until the end of his life.
If you decide to take the dog in retirement, typically when he is about 8 years old, you will get a well educated older dog, which means he will be calm, non-destructive and very easily handlable. He might develop some age related problems, but usually the service dog organisations take care of those charges. To me, it sounds like a perfect companion for anyone with a calm lifestyle!
Otherwise, you can take the dog at puppy age, typically from around 4 months until his first birthday, when school starts for him. If you prefer puppies to grown dogs, or if you want to only have a dog temporarily, this could be perfect for you! But keep in mind that puppies are uneducated energy-bundles who need a lot of time and devotion.
In case you go for the second option, are two main responsibilities the service dog association will ask of you:
Train the puppy where to do its needs
Take it everywhere
Anyone who has ever had a puppy knows that it needs to be potty-trained. A future service dog will not only have to go potty anywhere outside but will also have restrictions on the where and when exactly.
The ‘when’ is important because a service dog cannot just interrupt its service to quickly go to the toilet. He will have to go during the ‘breaks’, just like humans in seminars or concerts. Those breaks will be indicated by the handler of the dog, so yeah, the dog will pee and poop on command.
What you will be asked when you get the puppy, however, is to take care about the ‘where’. In many countries, it is forbidden for dogs to pee on public buildings, or to poop on the pavement. Many dogs contravene this rule every day, but if a service dog gets in trouble because of that, then this might imply a serious problem for the person relying on that dog. So while it is important to show any dog from a very small age on where to relieve himself, it is especially so for a service dog to be.
The second aspect is that you have to bring your guide dog in training everywhere where the future guide dog could possible have to exercise his function. The dog is later supposed to lead his handler safely through any situation. If during service it encounters an unknown situation that he does not know how to handle, how can he assure the safety of his handler?
For that reason, the puppies have the same right of access as full-fledged service dogs, meaning you can take him to the opera, the supermarket, the airplane etc. I am currently not aware of any place where guide dogs are not allowed.
Actually, this part of the task is crucial. Dogs accept new situations easily when they are young, and with increasing difficulty when they get older. I don’t know if you have seen scared dogs, but they really get into fight or flight mode in unknown situations, and this would be absolutely inadmissible for a service dog. I claim that the quality of the future guide dog depends to a considerable part on how much the puppy was exposed to new situations. So, if you take on the task, I encourage you to present that puppy to as many situations and environments as possibly imaginable.
This also implies that the puppy cannot be left at home during the work hours of the handler. In general, you should take the puppy just literally everywhere you go, but you might find work to be the biggest obstacle.
Other than taking care of the puppy, there will most probably be some organisational obligations like meetings and follow ups on how you’re doing with your dog. There might be other requirements too, so you will have to inform yourself about the exact procedure in the respective organisation.
So, if you are motivated to do a service for society by just having fun with a little puppy that you’re even allowed to constantly have by your side, I can only encourage you to get information from a service dog society around you, get going and help someone in need!