Guide Dogs for the Blind is a non-profit organization that has been matching guide dogs and visually impaired people since 1942. There are two campuses, one in Boring Oregon and San Rafael, California. The people receiving these dogs, their plane ticket and everything is paid for by guide dogs, which is why donations and support is so greatly appreciated.
Each year, about 800 puppies are born and only about 300 end up making it to be a successful guide.
What we do, is we take an 8 week old baby puppy and have them until about 13-17 months and we teach them basic obedience, manners, and socialization skills that they will need in the future. This job is done by volunteer puppy raisers that are technically the foster home for the dog until they are ready to go back to campus. Approximately every three months, our CFR that is assigned to our location comes and evaluates the dogs and see where they are in their training.
Once these dogs hit a certain age, they go back into what we call 'Formal Training', where they learn everything to be a working guide. There are 8 phases to formal training where they have to pass certain tests in able to continue in the program. Once they pass phase 8 they are patched with a visually impaired person and they go through a two week class with their person. They are taught how to walk in harness, lead their person around obstacles and walk along curbs, sidewalks, etc. The most important thing these dogs are taught is intelligent disobedience. These dogs have to be able to disobey a command if it puts their person in danger. For example if a car is coming towards them, the dogs are taught to put a buffer between the car and the person. Many times these dogs have saved their partners life.
Not all dogs go directly into the training string, others have been on 'breeder watch' which means the dog is not spayed or neutered until they go back to campus for vigorous health screening to see if the dog will become a breeder for the program versus a working guide
Not all dogs that are trained for the program make it, we call this 'Career Changed'. When the dog is first CC'd, their raiser has first dibs on whether or not they would like to keep the dog as a pet. Depending on what they are CC'd for, the dog has the potential to go into a different service program like Dogs for the Deaf, K9 Buddy, PTSD dog, etc.
Something that makes each individual dog unique, is their name. Every puppy is born out of the San Rafael, CA campus, and when they are born the litter is assigned a letter that each name will start with. Names will only be reused if the previous dog is CC'd or if a working guide has retired. Which means the name of a working guide will not be used again until it is retired.
