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Month: March 2019

Image with pictures of Terra, Justin, and Jonelle with their Leader Dogs seated next to them in harness

Sadona and I are doing well. She just “celebrated” her 6th birthday. Sadona’s work is great. We enjoy walking around our neighborhood and going places like church and shopping.

My mom wanted me to thank you for matching me with Sadona. She used to worry about me crossing crazy busy streets alone. She hasn’t worried (much) since she knows Sadona is by my side and won’t let me cross if it’s not safe.

Thank you again for matching me with such a smart and assertive worker who loves her work and enjoys playtime. She has boosted my confidence so much! Her silly antics keep me laughing. She is just the dog I need! Thank you Leader Dog!

Terra Peterson

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Justin and Winnie go for daily walks around the neighborhood and walk up to a nearby shopping center often. They have bonded immensely over the last year. Winnie is always at his side. She is a great dog that has added a lot of joy to our family. She and Justin are best friends! We are overjoyed with the experience that Justin had at Leader Dog. He still talks about all the people he met.

We’ve been able to keep in contact with the puppy raiser family, the Stauffers from PA, through Facebook. It’s such a cool relationship that really warms my heart. They are such a great family and I love seeing all the work they’ve done with Leader Dog.

Sincerely,

Amanda Mellis (Justin’s sister)

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Hello! I just finished training at the Leader Dog campus and I am so grateful for your organization. I came to Leader Dog a broken person—I left an independent person again!

You have some of the best staff, instructors, puppy raisers and veterinarians I have ever encountered. I owe you… not just for the courage to go again without my sight, but for giving my life back to me with this beautiful dog Bailey. I will recommend you to all in need of Orientation & Mobility Training or a guide dog. I have no complaints. It was an eye-opening and beautiful experience. Who knows what me and Bailey will get into but I do know the adventures ahead will be awesome!

Thank you,

Jonelle Bray

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I just returned from Leader Dog. After many years of being unable to go outside without assistance this was a life changer. I live in Las Vegas and the traffic here is really pedestrian unfriendly so I was petrified to leave [my place] alone.

I am proud to say since I have gotten home just three days ago I have been out more than the last six months. I went to the pharmacy last night in the dark alone to get my prescriptions that were ready. My fiancée was nervous but I wanted to do it alone as I have not done in at least eight years. I am 50 and my life is a LOT different than what it once was.

I plan on going back for a dog as soon as I can because every single person at Leader Dog was amazing, friendly, and totally caring of each and every client. Out of a 5-star rating in my book they get a 10. Everyone from the front desk, instructors, kitchen staff, and even the sales people in the store were totally amazing and truly care about every client that is there.

Christopher LaRue

Pictured above from L to R: Terra Peterson and Leader Dog Sadona, Justin Mellis and Leader Dog Winnie, Jonelle Bray and Leader Dog Bailey.

A young man walks with a Leader Dog in harness down a sunny sidewalk lined with trees. Another man in a Leader Dog polo follows slightly behind the first

In the second part of our webinar series, Leader Dog staff discussed our brand new, expanded options for Guide Dog Training as well as giving an overview of Summer Experience Camp.

Leader Dogs for the Blind understands that every client has their own one-of-a-kind goals. This webinar talks about six unique options we’ve created for Guide Dog Training, including Flex, Urban and Warm Weather offerings.

Our Summer Experience Camp is open to teens ages 16 and 17. This experience helps campers build independence, leadership skills and GPS travel skills while making new friends.

View our previous webinar, “Is a Leader Dog the Right Mobility Tool for Me?”

If you would like to be notified of future webinars, please email Rachelle Kniffen with your request.

Meet Your Host and Presenters

Erica Ihrke has been Leader Dog’s manager of extended services since 2008. She earned her master’s degree in orientation and mobility from Western Michigan University. She is currently a member of the O&M Subject Matter Expert Committee for the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation & Education Professionals and is a past president of Michigan Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER).

Erica is an in-demand speaker and has presented at several AER International Conferences and the International Mobility Conference on the topics of guide dog readiness, alternative models of O&M, and accessible GPS.

David Locklin has 17 years experience in guide dog training. His career started with Guide Dogs for the Blind in the United Kingdom where he was a guide dog mobility instructor for seven years before becoming their service delivery manager.

Since 2014, David has been Leader Dog’s director of programs, overseeing the training department and the outreach services & community engagement department. Among David’s responsibilities is ensuring that all programs meet International Guide Dog Federation standards and that the needs of all clients are being met.

Jim Dugan, Leader Dog’s manager of outreach services, has been with Leader Dog since 2016. He oversees client field activities including home delivery of Leader Dogs and client support, as well as agencies and community engagement activities.

Jim has been in the guide dog industry since 1989 and has been a guide dog mobility instructor since 1992 for organizations in the U.S. and Australia. Prior to that, Jim was a member of the Military Police K9 Corp. in the U.S. Army.

A man stands in a large open space with tall dog kennels visible behind him. In front of him sit three dogs, one black lab and two golden retrievers, looking up at the man. Another black lab walks toward the group

Once Future Leader Dogs are returned to our campus by their puppy raisers, most will live here for four months in the canine development center before graduating to working Leader Dogs. During that time, it’s important that every dog stays happy, healthy and ready to learn the lessons that will allow them to be successful guide dogs. To make sure that happens, we have several groups of people who work and interact with the Leader Dogs-in-training every day.

At any given time, we average between 110–130 dogs in the canine center. During a typical day we have 10 dog care team members, 20 guide dog mobility instructors (GDMIs) and 15 canine support assistant volunteers interacting with our dogs. Each one provides our dogs the maximum amount of interaction time to support their opportunity to become a successful Leader Dog.

Our dog care team members’ normal routine is to feed, medicate, handle, relieve and clean 2–3 villages (average of 25 total dogs) twice per shift. After those tasks are complete, they focus on the dogs’ health, training and enrichment. They take dogs to the vet clinic to check any health concerns, problem solve any concerns that were noticed while caring for individual dogs and spend one-on-one or group enrichment (dog-to-dog interaction) time with the dogs in their villages.

A typical weekday has 20 GDMIs concentrating on providing the 5–8 dogs they are responsible for with progressive guide dog training, such as a 30-minute training in the canine center or taking 3–4 dogs for a half-day training trip to Rochester, Birmingham, Detroit, etc. While the GDMIs focus mainly on training, they also pay close attention to the health, enrichment and care of their dogs.

We have three shifts of canine support assistant (CSA) volunteers every day. Each CSA shift has a dog care team member who guides their shift to provide enrichment time. The current focus for CSA volunteers is to provide one-on-one enrichment time with our dogs. This might be grooming (we have a never-ending supply of fur) or performing TTouch techniques (essentially a form of massage) to calm our dogs. We recently introduced a new opportunity for CSA volunteers to support group enrichment with our dogs.

We also created a new volunteer opportunity, dog transition assistant, with the goal to have 21 shifts (two hours long each) with two volunteers on each shift. The focus of this role is to use relaxation protocols that our puppy raisers have already introduced to our dogs to help them transition into their new environment. An amazing group of puppy raisers helped develop this role that other puppy raisers are now supporting on-campus.

Our dogs receive an amazing amount of interaction every day, and each staff member and volunteer helps to pave the way for another client receiving a well-trained Leader Dog that is ready to become the eyes of someone who’s blind or visually impaired.

Pictured above: Apprentice Guide Dog Mobility Instructor Kevin Guay interacts with some of the dogs in our canine center during a group enrichment session.