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The Ultimate List Of Guide Dog Schools In The United States And Canada

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Our original list of guide dog schools in the United States was published way back on March 7th, 2012 and included 12 guide dog schools across 13 states.

Today we are updating our ultimate list of guide dog schools to not only include U.S. schools but also Canada and some additional resources for people interested in Guide Dogs.

About 18 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.

Working guide dog, Dublin!
Working guide dog, Dublin!

Shortly after fostering several litters of puppies, I started looking around at different dog training schools, specifically organizations that provided guide dogs and service dogs to those in need free of charge.

My goal was to dedicate the 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 schools in California:

I also researched one 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 others nationwide.

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.

However, 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 their local guide dog school.

Ultimate List Of Guide Dog Schools In The U.S.

Dog Training Schools
Dublin and I in front of the GDA sign – our guide dog training school

Arizona

Eye Foundation For The Blind
8252 South 15th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85041-7806
Phone: 1-800-393-3641

California

Guide Dogs of America (GDA)
13445 Glenoaks Blvd.
Sylmar, CA 91342
Phone: (818) 362-5834

Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc. (GDB)
P. O. Box 151200
San Rafael, CA 94915-1200
Phone: (800) 295-4050

Guide Dogs of the Desert
P. O. Box 1692
Palm Springs, CA 92263
Phone: (760) 329-6257

Connecticut

Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, Inc.
103 Vision Way
Bloomfield, CT 06002
Phone: (860) 243-5200

Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, Inc.
27 Cannon Road
Wilton, CT 06897
(203) 529-8201

Florida

Southeastern Guide Dogs, Inc.
4210 77th Street East
Palmetto, FL 34221
Phone: (941) 729-5665

Hawaii

Guide Dogs of Hawai’i
715 S. King Stree, Suite 110
Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: 808-941-1088

Kansas

Kansas Specialty Dog Service, Inc. (KSDS)
120 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: (248) 651-9011

Mississippi

Gallant Hearts Guide Dog Center
131 Red Fox Lane
Madison, MS 39110
Phone: (601) 853-6996

North Carolina

Mira Foundation USA
77 Cherokee Road
Pinehurst, NC 28374
Phone: 910-944-7757

New Jersey

The Seeing Eye
P. O. Box 375
Morristown, NJ 07963-0375
Phone: 973-539-4425

New York

America’s Vet Dogs
371 East Jericho Turnpike,
Smithtown, NY  11787-2976
Phone: 1-631-930-9000
(Toll-free in the U.S.) 1-800-548-4337

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, Inc.
611 Granite Springs Rd.
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
Phone: 800-942-0149

Ohio

Pilot Dogs, Inc.
625 West Town Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: 614-221-6367

Oregon

Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc. (GDB)
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

Washington

Independence Guide Dogs
3923 S Burns St
Seattle, Washington, 98118
Phone: 206-588-2453

Wisconsin

OccuPaws Guide Dog Association
PO Box 45857
Madison, WI 53744
Phone: 608-772-3787

Wyoming

K9s For Mobility
11805 Campstool Road
Cheyenne, WY, 82007
Phone: 307-222-9597

Guide Dog Schools In Canada

I expanded our list to include Canada as well.

BC & Alberta Guide Dogs (BC Head Office – Greater Vancouver)
7061 Ladner Trunk Road
Delta, BC V4K 3N3
Phone: 604-940-4504

BC & Alberta Guide Dogs (Calgary Office)
#11 6115-4th Street SE
Calgary, AB  T2H 2H9
Phone: 403-258-0819

Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind
National Office and Training Centre
P.O. Box 280
Manotick, Ontario  K4M 1A3
Phone: 613-692-7777

CNIB Guide Dogs
CNIB Locations
Phone: 1-800-563-2642

Dog Guides Canada, Lions Foundation of Canada
152 Wilson Street
Oakville, ON L6K 0G6
Phone: 905-842-2891

Mira Foundation Inc.
1820 North-West
RangeSainte-Madeleine QC J0H 1S0
Phone: 450-795-3725

Other Guide Dog Resources

National Association of Guide Dog Users (NAGDU)
4422 Kinglet St
Houston, TX 77035
Phone: 346-439-7444

Guide Dog Users, Inc. (GDUI)
Phone: 1-866-799-8436 (works in the U.S. only)

Guide Dog Dublin
Guide Dog Dublin

As I mentioned earlier, our original list consisted of 12 schools in 13 states.

Our updated list includes 21 guide dog schools in 17 states plus an additional 5 schools in Canada.

If you know of any other guide dog schools or resources in the U.S. or Canada please shoot me a message through our contact form.

If you’re a puppy raiser or guide dog handler and are raising for one of these guide dog schools, please leave me a comment below and let me know a thing or two about yourself.

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10 Comments

  1. 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.

  2. 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!

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Thank you for letting us know about Gallant Hearts Guide Dog Center. I updated the page with your information.

  6. 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.

  7. @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.

  8. @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.

  9. 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. 🙂

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