Guide Dogs at a glance
.jpg)
When your name is Guide Dogs, everyone naturally assumes that you train Guide Dogs for people who are blind or vision impaired. Which, of course, we do. But it's not all that we do.
We train people who are vision impaired to use canes, canines and electronic aids to improve their mobility and thus independence and quality of life.
We train companion dogs for children and adults who are disabled or disadvantaged owing to age, isolation or ill health.
And we advocate on behalf of the people we assist to make the community an easier place in which to live and work.
We do not charge for our services.We don't receive government funding. Everything we achieve is made possible by the generosity of our donors, bequestors and volunteers.
In New South Wales and the ACT (Australia), there are around 100,000 people with a vision impairment severe enough to cause problems with daily living. Our services are there for all of them.
Last year alone, our instructors travelled over three quarter of a million kilometres to make sure that, wherever possible, mobility skills are taught in the environment in which they will be used.
We also work with local government, architects, transport authorities and businesses on ways to improve facilities for people with a vision impairment.