LEADER DOGS FOR THE BLIND

Leader Dogs for the Blind empowers people who are blind, visually impaired or Deaf-Blind with skills for a lifetime of independent trave, opening doors that may seem to have closed with the loss of sight.

Leader Dogs for the Blind is a guide dog training organization located in Rochester Hills, Michigan. It was founded in 1939 by Lions Club members Charles Nutting, Don Schuur and S.A. Dodge,^[1] as the second guide dog organization founded in the United States and has paired over 14,500 dogs with the visually impaired worldwide, making it one of the largest organizations of its kind.

Much like “Seeing Eye Dogs” from The Seeing Eye, Leader Dog’s trained canines are called “Leader Dogs.”

Leader Dog is a nonprofit organization. All expenses, including room and board, airfare, training and equipment, and the guide dog itself, are offered free of charge. An applicant, after being accepted into the program, travels to Leader Dog headquarters and typically spends three weeks training with his or her new dog, after which the dog belongs to the applicant officially. Additionally, some applicants may receive in-home training or a hybrid of on-campus and in-home training.

In addition to its guide dog program, Leader Dog has a program that instructs people in traveling with a white cane, as well as a summer camp for teenagers who are blind.

Leader Dogs employs a breeding program to supply dogs, consisting of Labrador and Golden Retrievers, German Shepherd Dogs, and crosses of those breeds. Breeding dogs donated from the general public that are of fitting physical and mental character are also occasionally accepted. Additionally, dogs unsuited for the work of a guide dog may be “career changed” to service, detection, veteran, and court advocacy dog organizations.