Puppy breath—check.
Fat rolls—check.
The most adorable faces you’ll ever see—check.
The potential to mean the world to someone in need—check and check.
A new litter of puppies in St. Louis has everything to bring out all the squeals and smiles in a room full of adults, but these little adorable balls of fluff are on a mission to make the world a better place.
And they're only 9 weeks old.
They’re part of the St. Louis-area not-for-profit Duo, which raises and trains service dogs for people with disabilities.
“They do such a great job at Duo. Puppy for a cause. It really means so much to the person it goes to,” said Randy Girsch, the vice president of community development and event management for the St. Louis Blues.
READ MORE: The Blues' puppy has a name!
Duo made such an impression on Blues television play-by-play announcer John Kelly, that the team decided to “adopt” its own puppy.
Barclay—named after the late Blues great Barclay Plager—joined the Blues Thursday. He spent most of his first day sleeping, said Girsch, who’s taking the lead on raising Barclay. The pup goes home with him every night. For the next 12 to 16 months it’s his job to socialize Barclay and expose him to as many real-world experiences as possible so he’s a well-rounded service dog. From there, it’s back to Duo for advanced training before being placed with their forever home.
PHOTOS: Puppies training to be service dogs
While all the focus is on Barclay, he’s not the only puppy preparing to make our world a better place. Duo has a whole litter of puppies getting ready to embark on their role as a service dog-in-training.
Today in St. Louis reporter Jenn Sullivan got the ‘ruff’ job of meeting the litter.
“Now this is what we call a ‘fluff piece,’” she captioned the photos with some of the sweetest little puppy faces you’ll ever see.
Barclay is one of eight puppies in his litter. Some of the puppies are being raised in "Volunteer Puppy Raising Homes," like Barclay.
Duo also has a partnership with two prisons in which the inmates help raise and train the puppies. Some of the dogs in Barclay's litter went into these programs as well.
If you would like to find out more information on Duo and how you can volunteer, click here.
