Before Graduating, These Service Dogs Had One Last Puppy Party

Imagine spending 18 months raising an adorable, fluffy puppy, teaching it everything from "sit" to "stay" to "don't eat the couch." You pour your heart into it, knowing full well that one day, it'll leave to become a life-changing service dog. Then, just before its big graduation, you get to see it one last time, and it remembers you.

That's exactly what went down recently at Canine Companions, an organization that's been matching service dogs with people with disabilities since 1975 — completely free of charge. They shared a video that promptly broke the internet (and several tear ducts) showing these soon-to-be working dogs reuniting with their volunteer puppy raisers right before their big "graduation."

And by "reunion," we mean a full-on, happy-whine-and-wagging-tail explosion. One particularly enthusiastic black Labrador apparently tackled its former trainer with pure joy. Because apparently, even highly trained service dogs still have a little bit of puppy left in them, especially for their first families. As one commenter put it, it's a chance for them to "be a puppy one last time." Which, if you think about it, is both incredibly sweet and slightly chaotic.

Tami Kelly, a PR rep for Canine Companions, says these emotional reunions are actually a regular tradition. Volunteers take these pups from eight weeks old until they're about 18 months, molding them into the calm, capable companions they're destined to be. Then, it's off to their new humans.

Here's the kicker: less than one percent of people with disabilities who need a service dog actually have one. Canine Companions currently has over 500 people on their waiting list, with thousands more in need. So, while these reunions are heartwarming, they also highlight a critical shortage. More volunteer puppy raisers mean more dogs, and more dogs mean more independence for people who need it. It's a pretty good reason to sign up for some puppy cuddles, if you ask us.