Guide Dogs for the Blind

Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) is the largest guide dog school in North America. The organization is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, with a continued mission to provide independence and inclusion for people who are blind or visually impaired, using well-trained guide dogs. GDB currently uses yellow and black Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, and Lab/Golden crosses. Guide Dogs for the Blind provides all of their services free of charge, receives no government funding, and are supported entirely by private donations.

Some may not know that Cameron Park is the home of an active group of puppy raisers who are proud to raise guide dog puppies for this amazing organization—puppies that will go on to transform the lives of the clients with whom they are paired. It takes 18 to 24 months to fully train a guide dog. They spend about a year with puppy raisers and another 12 weeks on campus learning specific guiding skills in their formal training. Guide Dogs for the Blind operates two campuses—one in San Rafael, CA and the other in Boring, OR, a suburb of Portland.

GDB Puppy Clubs were created to support and educate our volunteers; they receive extensive support from GDB staff. The Cameron Park club has existed and actively supported the Guide Dogs for the Blind mission for 45 years - since 1977. Originally, puppy clubs were associated with 4-H Club groups of young people whose members took puppies and raised them in their homes. Young raisers also took their puppies to school with them.

As years went on, adults became interested in raising puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind, and the face of puppy clubs began to change with older volunteers. Some of the adults who initially became involved were parents of the original 4-H puppy raisers.

Puppy raising today requires much more from raisers by way of training and socializing puppies. The

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skill set for raising and preparing a puppy for guide work is extensive. Thanks to raisers’ efforts, puppies are well prepared for success when they return to GDB’s campuses “for college.”

As a puppy raiser, one is never alone on this journey. The Cameron Park Puppy Club has volunteers with DECADES of combined experience. Our club supports raisers in learning specific training techniques that lead to formal guide dog training when the puppy goes back to campus. Additionally, our club goes on socialization outings as a group, to acclimate puppies to a variety of experiences in the world. This exposure is critical to producing well-adjusted, confident guide dogs. We appreciate continued on page 26