Across America there are more than 1,400 families raising puppies to be guide dogs. Many of them are right here in Colorado. They volunteer to be guide dog puppy raisers. It requires a lot of patience through months of training, and still there are no guarantees that the dogs will "graduate" to become guide dogs.

"The first time I saw Blaze out there guiding your heart just goes pitter-patter. It is like when you raise up your children and they become doctors, they help people," said Caroline Wriston, a guide dog puppy ratiner.

Blaze, her yellow Labrador, is retired, but Caroline and her husband Bill continue to raise guide dogs for the blind. They have volunteered as puppy raisers for 13 years.

"We might have the puppy for a year and people say: 'Isn't it hard to give them up?' I'll say: 'Yeah, it has been hard 15 times,'" said Bill Wriston.

Bill and Caroline are working with their 16th puppy named Aster. The couple work full time and still find time to raise guide dogs. They have even started an Aurora guide dog club called "Liberty on Leashes" back in 2002.

"We saw something on TV about raising dogs many years ago and thought what a great way to give back to your community and have fun while you're doing it," said Caroline.

"There isn't anything they wouldn't do for the dogs, for the community and for all of us," said Janie Clark, a guide dog puppy raiser.

Fellow puppy raiser Barb Wells agrees, "They spend an incredible amount of time and energy, in this organization."

The Wristons consider all the work to be fun. As Bill puts it, "I tell people we get paid with puppy kisses."

To learn more about guide dogs visit, www.GuideDogs.com or www.LibertyonLeashes.com.