Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) has launched our new Pupdates website! Sarah Blevins, GDB Director of Puppy Raising, says the site honors the passion and dedication of our amazing community. This first-of-its-kind site documents each dog’s journey with images and personal notes from GDB staff and volunteers.
“We created this site to allow everyone to stay 'pup-to-date' on the dogs they love after they return to campus,” explains Sarah. Her team had provided quarterly Pupdates to puppy raisers via email but wanted to offer more updates on a more regular basis and share them more widely. It soon became obvious that creating a purpose-built, fully accessible website would be the key to accomplishing GDB’s goals, which included:
• Offering a way for volunteer puppy raisers to receive personalized information about how the pups they have raised are progressing through their GDB journeys until each dog’s individual path within GDB’s programs is complete. Even then, the Pupdates will remain archived on the site and be available to access forever.
• Giving puppy raisers (and others) an easy way to share updates about the dogs in our program, helping to raise awareness of our work and volunteer opportunities. Each Pupdate has the built-in ability to be shared to a variety of social media accounts.
• Facilitating greater engagement of our valuable puppy-raising volunteers.
• Giving more people (clients, breeder custodians, adopters, donors, and others) the opportunity to see the Pupdates of any/all dogs, including the dog they have been partnered with, have adopted, or have sponsored.
• Providing a streamlined way for employees to contribute Pupdate photos and anecdotes. With this site, employees can enter Pupdate information directly from their mobile phones.
The Pupdates website is the only one of its kind in the world. “No other guide dog school is offering this sort of peek into the journeys of their dogs,” says Sarah. “So, whether you welcomed a GDB pup into your home or Puppy Club, your place of business, or even your heart, we invite you to follow along and support their next steps!”
