"One of the reasons I wanted to start my own organization was to enable and empower volunteers to be involved in the whole process (of raising and training service dogs)," said Linzey Zoccola, who founded Phoenix Assistance Dogs (PAD) in 2009. Zoccola and assistant director Ashley Bosserman have recently begun working with dogs, volunteer trainers, and clients in the organization's new Warwick Center offices in Lititz.

Many of the dogs that become PAD service dogs are goldadors - a mix of golden retrievers and Labrador retrievers. "We work with community breeders, and we breed as well in our program," said Zoccola, who had 7-week-old Luxor - named for the Pixar office lamp - and Barley at the center during the interview. "Both Sumatra, the mom, and Easton, the dad, are from our program," explained Zoccola.

"Puppy raisers need good communication skills," explained Zoccola. "Almost any lifestyle and activity level is wonderful as long as the individual is eager to learn." According to Zoccola, the only other qualifications are that someone in the household be able to drive the puppy to the vet and to the center for training and that the raisers have internet access for training purposes, since the puppy raiser manual is online. "We have had wonderful teenage puppy raisers and wonderful retired puppy raisers," said Zoccola, who noted that active families with small children are welcome as well.

Bosserman noted that puppy raisers are required to attend two lessons a month at the Lititz location to work with PAD trainers. She specified that puppy raisers help dogs learn all the skills they need as service dogs beginning with sit and stay, and, when the dog is older, how to open doors and shut off lights.

"We cover a lot (of expenses) for our puppy raisers," she said, pointing out that food, vet costs, and grooming are included. "(Puppy raisers) need to provide treats, toys, dog beds, and lots of love," she said.

PAD has developed a timeline for puppies that matches them with puppy raisers at two months old after they have begun to be housetrained. At 12 months, the dogs undergo an evaluation, and at 14 months, X-rays are taken of hips and elbows, which are then evaluated by orthopedic veterinarians befor the dogs move forward with the program.

Because it's very important to PAD that clients are partnered with dogs that can meet their needs, it can take several rounds of clients meeting puppies before a match is made. "It depends on what the puppy needs to learn to make a final placement," explained Zoccola, who noted a smaller female dog with an upbeat personality would not be matched with an individual who has weight-bearing mobility issues. "We would look for individuals who need retrieving and door opening (for that dog)," she said, adding that during meetings PAD representatives and puppy raisers examine dog and client interaction. "We are looking at the individual's body language when they're working with the dog," she noted. "We are watching how the dog is interacting with that individual." Zoccola added that puppy raisers have input into this process. "We help them to learn what we're looking for, and together we match that dog with someone with a disability," she said.

Readers who would like to learn more may visit http://padcentral.org or search for "Phoenix Assistance Dogs" on Facebook.