Join our Team!

Volunteers urgently needed! Now accepting applications for puppy-raisers!

Some areas of interest:

West Coast Assistance Teams is a charity that is 100% volunteer run. We are always looking for exciting, innovative people to join our team of volunteers. If you are interested in helping develop an organization that works with people with disabilities, youth at-risk, and assistance dogs, then you are just who we are looking for. Volunteering is an extremely rewarding experience. We know that with your help West Coast Assistance Teams could achieve our goals. We offer our volunteers the opportunity to be an integral part of the development of our programs.

Puppy Raising

By opening your heart and home to one of our puppies you embark on a wonderful journey and experience that ensures reliable loving companions that will create a meaningful change in someone's life.

Puppy Raisers are the backbone to any assistance dog program.

• You will help ensure that the puppy is well socialized and well-mannered.
• You will be given training where you will learn basic canine skills; the skills required to properly train these puppies for their exceptional jobs.
• You will have a chance to meet, socialize, and make new friends who are experiencing a similar journey.
• Most of all you will be helping our student trainers fulfill their goals.

Our puppies need to meet many different people and situtations to build confidence and stability. Playtime is also a large part of our puppy's learning. They require play and exercise to enhance their physical and emotional well being. All puppies require quiet time. A time to relax with their family and experience the safety and warmth of a home; to create a bond of love and security that will prepare them for their role as loyal, loving companions to a person with a disability.

Puppy raisers are encouraged to take their puppies everywhere with them. They will proudly wear capes that signify that they are West Coast puppies-in-training as well as carry identification from the B.C. government. Puppy raisers are ambassadors for the program and will be given all the information they need to feel comfortable doing their job. West Coast puppies (with permission from the employer) may accompany their raisers to work. It is important that puppies be accustomed to many different activities such as riding in cars and buses, or waiting patiently under a desk or table while you're eating in a restaurant. Each trip you take, whether its to the store or to a friend's home, helps in preparing our puppies for their future journeys.

West Coast puppies sleep in the bedroom with their raisers - either on the floor beside the bed or in a puppy crate. This intensifies the bond between canine and human and lays the foundation for a close working relationship.

West Coast Assistance Teams believes in Early Puppy Training. Therefore, our puppy raisers have a very active part in the training of our service dogs. As a team, we will work together for between 18 and 24 months training and developing a working companion. When the dog has completed all the training, our instructors will carefully match the dogs with prospective recipients during team training. When team training is completed, there will be a graduation ceremony at which time the dog will be presented to their new partner.

PAWS Puppy Raisers:

PAWS Puppy Raisers participate in our high-schooled assistance dog program and will be responsible for bringing their puppies to school and picking them up after school each day.  PAWS Puppy Raisers will be responsible for the care of the puppy in the evenings, weekends and holidays.  They and their student trainers will be given instructions as a team to help develop the puppy’s social skills for proper public behaviour and teach the puppy the skills required to become a reliable Assistance Companion for a disabled individual.

Fundraising

By definition, a charity requires people with the skill and desire to initiate fundraising events and/or programs. We are able to target donors and supporters of several groups, including youth-at-risk, people with various disabilities, and canine advocates. West Coast encourages and challenges anyone that has ideas for events or programs to step up and be part of this vital team! We are happy to help implement your ideas and are always eager to learn other concepts and methods.

Publicity

Public awareness is a key component to the growth of West Coast Assistance Teams. Volunteers can help greatly by preparing press releases, contacting media, making appointments for demonstrations or displays at events, corporations, schools, etc. Getting the public to know about assistance dogs and accessibility while promoting West Coast Assistance Teams as a "provider of preference" to our clients in the Lower Mainland of BC.

Web Publishing

People rely so much on information provided on websites and it is critical to stay current with upcoming events, news, and information. Volunteers can provide content, layout, & creativity to newsletters, brochures, photos, and movie clips, all of which can be transferred to the website.

Breeder Program

West Coast Assistance Teams needs an extremely special person to help with their breeding program. We are looking for someone that will act as a caretaker for a breeder dog. It will be trained as an assistance dog, but will live full time with you. Your help with whelping the litters and training the pups (with our help, of course) in the first 8-12 weeks of their life will be paramount.

Photography

A picture is worth a thousand words! Volunteers required to take photos and movie clips of everything we participate in. The more, the better. We are trying to produce eveything in digital format for easier transfer to websites, newsletters, brochures, etc.