Guide Dogs Centre

It's no walk in the park to teach puppies to become Guide Dogs. It requires boundless energy, care and experience - not to mention a lot of space.

That's where the Guide Dogs Centre comes in.

In 2000, we moved from our centre at Catherine Field to our new home with spacious grounds and brand-new facilities at Glossodia, in preparation for future growth.

The Centre's design draws on international expertise and the considerable experience of the Guide Dogs team. The result is a world-class facility, which includes 210,000 building bricks, 2,915 square metres of roofing, 6,000 square metres of reinforcing steel mesh, 90 magnetic doors, 322 gates and doors, 6 ponds and dams, 2 pumping stations and over 40 kilometres of PVC reticulation pipe to water the garden.

So what was created from this impressive list of building materials?

The Kennel Blocks

The Kennel Blocks are filled with the latest creature comforts. Every dog has its own private kennel, with 90 kennels in three Kennel Blocks.

Each kennel contains a 'pig licker', which supplies the dogs with drinking water whenever they become thirsty.

The floors of all three Kennel Blocks are coated with a non-porous epoxy resin. Combined with the reverse cycle air-conditioning system, it ensures that unpleasant odours don't hang around for long. They are also gently sloped in several directions, so any toilet mishaps flow straight into the drainage system, making cleaning a lot easier.

During the winter months, the dogs are kept warm by the in-floor electrical heating system.

The Food Preparation Area in each Kennel Block is fully equipped to feed 30 hungry dogs. It's complete with a deep freezer, refrigerator and microwave cooker. And with its stainless steel food bins, work tops and wash up areas, it's a dream come true for any chef.

The Shower and Groomings Areas are always bustling with activity. With 30 dogs to be groomed every morning in each Kennel Block, our kennel attendants certainly have their hands full.

The Blocks also include Examination Rooms where puppies have their initial veterinary examinations.

The Services Building

The Services Building houses comprehensive veterinary facilities including an X-ray machine, where, under the care of our veterinary surgeon, dogs can have surgery if necessary.

It also contains the laundry and general food storage - two very important areas for our dogs at the Centre.

The Administration Building

Looking after and training so many dogs takes a lot of planning and time. The Administration Building provides the office space needed by the Centre staff to ensure that everything runs smoothly and efficiently.

The Garden

The Centre garden was carefully designed to provide pleasant surroundings and much needed shade for the dogs.

As well as several hundred mature trees that were protected during construction, we have planted 23,000 assorted native plants and trees.

The Training Track

The dog training track winds its way through the grounds of the Centre, stretching for 1.4 kilometres. The training track includes every typical obstacles that the dogs could later encounter as Guide Dogs.

It comprises 7 different surfaces: concrete, mulch, gravel, sandstone, bitumen, decomposed granite and washed aggregate. It includes bridges, traffic barriers, manholes, textured grids and temporary construction paths, so the dogs learn to guide people safely around obstacles of different sizes. The training track also teaches them to recognise important landmarks such as telephone kiosks, bus stops, traffic lights and crossings.

While most training occurs in real life situations, this training track is the first step for future Guide Dogs. It's also ideal to reinforce the dogs' training in specific areas or to improve their concentration if necessary.

Recreation Areas

The Centre includes many outdoor fenced areas where the dogs can run off the leash, supervised by the kennel attendants. All areas are equipped with drinking water and most have shade cloths, to protect the dogs in the summer sun.

There are 12 external runs outside each Kennel Block, where the dogs spend most of the day when they're not working.

When the dogs feel energetic they can visit a range of large grass areas for free running and exercise.

There are also seven socialising areas, so the dogs can meet other trainee Guide Dogs.