Sequim Puppy Raisers with Guide Dogs for the Blind recently learned that one of their pups, Mattie, became an official breeder for the agency.

Deb Cox with the local club said this is the first time one of their dogs has been chosen.

“This is a real honor to raise a breeder,” she said. “Only the best pups become breeders.”

Mattie, a black lab, was raised by Claudine and Rich Sill.

Cox said each breeding dog lives with a family and is treated like a pet.

They return to the Guide Dog campus in San Rafael, California, when it’s time to be breed, Cox said, and all the moms return to campus for whelping in the agency’s breeding kennels.

To raise a puppy, volunteers receive a puppy when they’re 8- to 10-weeks old from the agency and train them for about a year before sending them for further training at the Guide Dogs for the Blind facility in Boring, Ore.

If they pass the four-month, eight-phase program, the dogs can be matched with a visually impaired partner on-site.

For more information about raising a Guide Dog, visit guidedogs.com/puppy or email Cox at Guidedogdeb98382@gmail.com.