Guiding Eyes for the Blind’s Campaign to Build a World Class Puppy Training Academy

Guiding Eyes for the Blind’s Campaign to Support the Expansion of the Canine Development Center will raise approximately $8 million to build a world class puppy training academy, a unique campus that will set a new standard for canine training facilities everywhere.

The human-canine bond is powerful.

Nowhere is this more evident than in a Guiding Eyes team: a blind individual partnered with a professionally bred and superbly trained dog.

Thousands of blind and visually impaired individuals choose Guiding Eyes over other guide dog schools because of cutting-edge training programs, commitment to excellence, and dedication to our elite dogs.

Guiding Eyes dogs are special for many reasons. Through years of program development, we know that they must learn to trust people when they are very young, and that their training must begin when they are puppies.

The Guiding Eyes story starts at the Canine Development Center, as this is where we welcome our puppies into the world. Join us as we become pioneers in the guide dog field, and ensure that Guiding Eyes puppies are even smarter, more confident, and supremely prepared to provide safety and new horizons for our clients.

The Canine Development Center (the CDC) is where a pup’s future as a Guiding Eyes dog begins.

The One STEP Ahead campaign will support a comprehensive new design and expansion of this facility, located on 30 acres in Patterson, New York. This one-of-a-kind campus will provide the perfect setting for Guiding Eyes’ proprietary advanced puppy training program, entitled STEP — Successive Training and Enrichment Program.

The new CDC facility and campus will:

• Ensure that Guiding Eyes meets increased demand for guide dogs as “baby boomers” age.
• Provide training space so that more puppies become successful guide dogs.
• Help to breed dogs that will work longer as guides and companions to their blind partners.
• Attract and retain more volunteers.
• Create a more comfortable and stimulating environment for our puppies, as well as their mothers and fathers.
• Position Guiding Eyes in the forefront of excellence and innovation in the field of guide and service dog schools worldwide.

The One STEP Ahead campaign will position Guiding Eyes in the forefront of excellence and innovation in the field of guide and service dog schools worldwide.

The new CDC will include:

• A puppy training pavilion
• Expanded kennels
• Open living areas
• “Green” construction initiatives
• Outdoor areas for “off leash” exercise
• Instructional space for volunteers
• Expanded veterinary hospital

Puppy Pavilion

Staff and volunteers will work together in the new Puppy Pavilion to master STEP’s important benchmarks. STEP ensures that our pups are well-socialized and confident before they enter guide dog training.

Girls Living Room

The new Girls Living Room is designed to allow our precious mothers space to socialize and roam freely, just as they do when they are at home with their foster families.

Guiding Eyes’ puppy training program is entitled
STEP — Successive Training and Enrichment Program.

A revolution in puppy training—STEP lessons start only a few days
after puppies’ birth, and focus on four key factors:

1. Building human-animal relationships based on trust, respect, and
joyful interaction.

2. Developing pups’ physical and emotional growth.

3. Building pup’s confidence through early socialization.

4. Creating a positive and nurturing environment for learning.

STEP enriches our puppies and strengthens their physical and cognitive development. In the new CDC facility, staff and volunteers will provide puppies with new experiences and positive reinforcement.

A ground-breaking program needs a ground-breaking facility.

Share our pride and excitement as we build the most unique canine training facility in the world, a place in which we can provide loving care for our puppies and give them an outstanding start for their journeys as Guiding Eyes dogs.

We need your support

The One STEP Ahead campaign represents a defining moment in the history of canine care and training. STEP’s success is due to years of extensive, sophisticated research and represents a dramatic departure from all previous puppy training programs. The new CDC is designed to support and integrate with STEP.

Join us

Your support will build a one-of-a-kind puppy training center that will set the standard for canine organizations everywhere. The newly designed campus and facility offers many opportunities for honoring your generosity. Dedication plaques can be installed in many beautiful new spaces.

If you are interested in the project, call Nancy Lothrop at (914) 243-2211,
or email at nlothrop@guidingeyes.org.