Dog Training Schools – A List Of Guide Dog Schools
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About 6 years ago I decided to volunteer my time with different animal groups and started off by becoming a volunteer foster home for puppies and dogs.
Shortly after fostering several litters of puppies I started looking around at different dog training schools, specifically dog training schools that provided guide dogs and service dogs to those in need free of charge.
My goal was to dedicate the next 18 months of my life to raising a guide or service dog puppy in training.
I searched Google and came across 3 different guide dog training schools in California: Guide Dogs of America, Guide Dogs for the Blind, and Guide Dogs of the Desert.
I also researched 1 service dog school, Canine Companions for Independence.
After much research and applying to all 4 schools I narrowed my list down to 1 and as most of you know I’m currently a puppy raiser for Guide Dogs of America.
Today I was wondering about all the other guide dog training schools across the United States so I decided to do a little more research and see if I could find other schools across the nation.
I’ve already heard of many others through my blog, youtube, facebook, and twitter such as KSDS, The Seeing Eye, Guide Dogs of Texas, and Fidelco, but I wanted to create a list with addresses and links just in case someone on the other side of the U.S. is looking for a local guide dog training school.
List Of Guide Dog Training Schools
California
Guide Dogs of America
13445 Glenoaks Blvd.
Sylmar, CA 91342
Phone: (818) 362-5834
Guide Dogs for the Blind
P. O. Box 151200
San Rafael, CA 94915-1200
Phone: (800) 295-4050
Guide Dogs of the Desert International
P. O. Box 1692
Palm Springs, CA 92263
Phone: (760) 329-6257
Connecticut
Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation
Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, Inc.
103 Vision Way
Bloomfield, CT 06002
Phone: (860) 243-5200
Florida
Southeastern Guide Dogs
4210 77th Street East
Palmetto, FL 34221
Phone: (800) 944-3647
Kansas
Kansas Specialty Dog Service
124 W. 7th Street
Washington, KS 66968
Phone: (785) 325-2256
Michigan
Leader Dogs for the Blind
1039 S. Rochester Rd.
Rochester Hills, MI 48307
Phone: (888) 777-5332
Mississippi
Gallant Hearts Guide Dog Center
131 Red Fox Lane, Madison, MS 39110
Phone: (601) 853-6996
New Jersey
The Seeing Eye
P. O. Box 375
Morristown, NJ 07963-0375
Phone: (973) 539-4425
New York
Freedom Guide Dogs for the Blind
1210 Hardscrabble Rd.
Cassville, NY 13318
Phone: (315) 822-5132
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc
371 E. Jericho Turnpike
Smithtown, NY 11787-2976
Phone: 1-800-548-4337
Guiding Eyes for the Blind
611 Granite Springs Rd.
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
Phone: 800-942-0149
Ohio
Pilot Dogs
625 West Town Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 221-6367
Oregon
Guide Dogs for the Blind
32901 S.E. Kelso Road
Boring, OR 97009
Phone: (503) 668-2100
Texas
Guide Dogs of Texas
1503 Allena Drive
San Antonio, TX 78213
Phone: (210) 366-4081
Wisconsin
OccuPaws Guide Dog Association
PO Box 45857
Madison, WI 53744
Phone: (608) 772-3787
Fax: (866) 854-3291
Those are the 12 guide dog training schools in 13 states that I was able to find using Google.
I’m not sure if there are others, but if you’re a guide dog training school and you’d like to be listed here then please leave me a comment below or contact me through my contact form.
If you’re a puppy raiser or guide dog handler and you are raising for one of these guide dog schools then please leave me a comment below and let me know a thing or 2 about yourself.
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I know this article is an older one, but I would like you to list The Good Shepherd Service Dogs. It is a small school in Arizona training service and guide dogs. The phone number is 520-335-7073 and the address is 4025 West Blue Heaven Lane, Bisbee, AZ. I received my cross-trained guide/service dog from them in April of this year and I love him. He is a German Shepherd Dog named Leader. The school currently breeds German Shepherds and Shollies and will start breeding Dobermans soon.
I would like to know what are the requirements to become a guide dog trainor daughter will start high school in the fall and this is what she want to become for children with special needs we live in South Carolina what should she take in college for the best opportunity! She plans on taking 4 sciences in high school and what colleges should she be looking at if you have any idea please let us know!
I live in the Charlotte NC area. After much online research I have 2 issues. I cannot find any organizations nearby for the required training sessions. I would rather work with medium to small sized dogs. My poodle mix went everywhere with me until his death. I would think it would be more difficult to take a large dog.
In our area there are a few private dog trainers that offer private lessons, general guidance for service dogs, and teach task training. You might see if some of your local private dog trainers offer this type of training. Good luck with your search.
I would like for you to list Gallant Hearts Guide Dog Center, 131 Red Fox Lane, Madison, MS 39110; Phone: (601) 853-6996. This is a small guide dog school serving the United States and Canada and it was founded in 2009.
Thank you for letting us know about Gallant Hearts Guide Dog Center. I updated the page with your information.
I found that list as well, but its kinda of old I believe, the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind has been around for over 50 years and they are in Smithtown NY. 🙂 I have raised for the for the last 5 years now. 🙂
@Erin, that’s odd. I had the Guide Dogs Foundation for the Blind on my list and was on their website when I was making this post, but I guess I must have missed it when I was ordering the list by state. Thanks for the update. I hope everything is going well with you and David. It must be fun having a chance to raise a Collie this time. Our group doesn’t raise Collies, but Apache is my first Golden.
Thanks! GDF just started breeding collies this past year so I’m excited to get to be among the first to raise one. 😉
@Erin, that’s cool! I’d can’t wait to hear all of your stories about raising a collie puppy in training. I’ve already seen some of the pictures.