Food, Home and Style

Productive Loafing: Puppy Love

Underemployed? Recessionwire offers ideas for making the most of your newfound free time.

Allison, a future guide dog.

A friend of mine has a lot of time on his hands these days—not because he’s been laid off, but because the company he founded is doing so well. You’d hate him if he weren’t so cool. He’s been taking cooking classes, doing yoga, and puppy-sitting. Not just any puppies; he’s helping care for dogs who are being trained as guides for the blind.

Upside: adorable animal companionship without a years-long commitment; knowing that you are helping a disabled person; dogs love that you’re unemployed, because it means more time to play

Downside: requires several weeks of training; willingness to take puppy out every four hours; a commitment to stay with the program for a year—not to mention patience, attention, and a tolerance for chewing

How to Do It: Contact an organization like Guiding Eyes for the Blind (866-GEB-LABS). There are similar groups all around the country, just do a Google search. Guiding Eyes is always looking for people to raise dogs, as well as volunteers to host puppies for two to five days at a time–the raisers need to travel without the dogs sometimes, and the dogs need to be exposed to different environments.

“It’s getting them to know that if I go to someone else’s house, the rules are the same,” says Linda Damato, director of puppy program support services for Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

Guiding Eyes takes applications online, asking for a personal reference, plus information about your home and other pets. If you’re accepted, you’ll have to complete a several-week training course (they’re offered in two Manhattan locations) to learn how to properly handle the puppy. Sound like a no-brainer? The dogs need to be taught special skills and attitudes–total focus while walking down a street full of distractions, for example. As a sitter, you’re continuing their training, Damato says.

My friend is a single guy with a one-bedroom apartment, and says that it would have been easier if he could have shared responsibilities with a partner. Still, he started out offering to take a puppy (see the cuteness in the photo) for a long weekend. That turned into a rewarding—but intense—few weeks.

“My job was to get her acclimated to the city at a critical point in her development,” he says. “Over a month, I turned her into a New Yorker, and that was pretty awesome.”

Tags: Food, Home and Style, philanthropy, The Unemployed Life