Pixie, A Guide Dog Puppy

We've been raising guide dog puppies for the last 7 years.  We just returned our 4th dog to the guide dog organization we work with.  It's always a bitter-sweet time when giving the dogs back...but giving the dog back means we're helping to give a blind person independence & freedom.  We raise the puppy for about 16 months, then they go back to the facility for their formal training.  The organization is called:  Freedom Guide Dogs 
You can click the name to get to their page.  I can't figure out yet how to make the link a different color-need to do that!
Anyway, here is Pixie as a puppy:

The other dog is Freya, our german shepherd...she has helped train all 4 of the dogs we've had.  She's always a great source of comfort to the puppies their first few days away from their litters.  She's a very maternal girl.
Pixie is a sweet, loving girl.  She's never met a stranger!  She was a real challenge at first.  The first 3 dogs we had (Piper, Abbie, Fletcher) were easy to potty train, but Pixie took longer even with crate training.  Other than that, she was a joy to raise.  
One bad thing that happened was that she accidentally knocked over Alyssa (who was just turned 2 at the time) who fell & hit the back of her head on a door frame & then had to go to the ER & get 4 staples.  Not Pixie's fault, of course.
Pixie did great out in public-she's a natural.  Here she is the day we took her back:

 Raisig guide dog puppies has certainly been a great opportunity to learn service to others, putting others before ourselves & letting go.  Many people tell us they couldn't do this; couldn't give the dogs back.  The first dog was the hardest to give back, but while we're raising the puppies we talk to the kids a lot about how the dog is not ours to keep, that the dog already belongs to someone who is blind that needs them.  And we pray for that person as we raise the puppy.  And we all sure feel great when we find out our dog made it (the first 3 did make it, we'll find out in several months if Pixie does) & get a graduation picture of the dog with their new owner.  One of them (Abbie's owner) called us to thank us--that was really special & totally encouraged us to keep going. 
We are taking a break right now.  My dh & I are both having health issues that we need to get taken care of.  Pat needs 2 or 3 surgeries & my health problem is still unidentified while I play bouncy ball b/w doctors & tests...grrrr.  That's another story, which I'd rather not think about right now.
There's been a lot of stressors in our lives the last couple years, so a break now is good.  I look forward to when we can pick this back up again in a year or two!  Have you ever considered being a puppy raiser?