All of the dogs listed below belong to the collection of dogs referred to as Sporting Dogs. Dogs in the Sporting group, which are referred to in England as Gundogs can be divided into three main categories - Retrievers, Pointers and Setters. These dogs were bred primarily to work with people to hunt game birds. Some of these dogs work in water whilst other dogs are more suited to work on land and many of the dogs in the Sporting dog category are comfortable and capable of working in either land or water environments. Sporting dogs (Gundogs) are particularly suited to wood and field activities.
Dogs can be trained to guide blind people so that they are able to negotiate the world otherwise unassisted. They serve as, quite literally, the eyes for their owner. It is illegal anywhere in the US, or Canada, or Britain, and most other countries, to deny a blind person guided by a dog access to any public place.
This includes stores, restaurants, banks, and anywhere else that dogs might be otherwise prohibited. The Americans with Disabilities Act in the US is quite clear on this point. The training for such dogs is quite demanding, as the dog must be able to navigate sidewalks, streets, stairs — avoiding all obstacles, including overhead ones that may injure its owner (but not itself). They must be able to ignore all distractions while doing their work.
Most commonly referred to as “Seeing Eye Dogs” or “Guide Dogs,” there are in reality many organizations in the US that provide guide dogs for blind people. However, while Guide Dogs for the Blind is on the west coast (along with Guide Dogs of the Desert and Guide Dogs of America, both in southern California, and Eye Dog Foundation in Arizona) and The Seeing Eye (among many others) is on the east, nearly all 15 schools in the United States serve people nationwide.
In fact, people can obtain a dog from any of the schools, save five (which serve only their own geographical regions), and many dogs from The Seeing Eye, Leader Dogs, Guiding Eyes and the other schools work on the west coast, while many dogs from Guide Dogs for the Blind work all around the country. Geographical location is only one factor in selecting a guide dog training school to attend, and rarely is it the most important.
Children are usually preferred as puppy raisers, hence many coordinate with 4-H programs. Interestingly enough, the puppies raised by kids are more likely to make it through the formal guide dog training. The difference is not drastic, but is “significant.” Volunteer puppy raisers are encouraged to expose their charges to as many new experiences as possible, observing the pups’ reactions and providing positive reassurance and security for the puppies as they experience crowds, cars, strange buildings, other animals and much more.
They also teach the dogs some of the basic obedience commands such as “sit” and “down,” but the dogs’ instructors will insure that the dogs know these and other obedience commands in addition to instructing them in guide work, itself.