REAL Exclusive Magazine

Southeastern Guide Dogs

By Tracy Eisnaugle

Photography by Chad Spencer

Mission – To create and nurture a partnership between a visually impaired individual and a guide dog, facilitating life’s journey with mobility, independence and dignity.

One of the Suncoast’s most honorable organizations, Southeastern Guide Dogs, is also one of only ten fully certified guide dog schools in the nation. Established in 1982, in Palmetto Florida, Southeastern Guide Dogs is a remarkable nonprofit organization providing guide dogs to people with visual impairments all over the country. Located on twenty-three acres of serene private land they operate a breeding facility and an intensive training program; breeding, whelping and raising certified guide dogs for those in need.

An inspirational setting with street names such as, Freedom Way and Independence Drive, the twenty-three acre grounds have a pleasant yet stimulating park-like atmosphere. The campus includes an administrative building, full-service cafeteria with gourmet chef, gift shop, nine student rooms and three dog kennels. The property offers nearly a mile of paved nature pathways called Freedom Walks, each specifically designed to provide training obstacles that replicate everyday life situations for both the dog and their partner.

Southeastern Guide Dogs produces and raises canines from its own stock of pre-selected dog breeds. The puppy kennel functions as the nursery and houses the newborn puppies from birth until they are placed in Puppy Raiser Families at approximately two months of age. An on-staff veterinarian oversees all the puppies’ health care needs including vaccinations and micro-chipping. The puppy kennel is open for Puppy Hugging where Southeastern Guide Dogs encourages puppy interaction and play with the public. The puppies are placed in Puppy Raiser Families where they are taught basic obedience and social skills.

Once the puppies reach between fourteen to twenty months of age they return to the Southeastern Guide Dogs campus to undergo six to eight months of intensive harness training with certified instructors. After training is complete the dogs are paired with their visually impaired partners and undergo an onsite twenty-six day training course. Recipients of guide dogs stay in the campus dormitory where they are brought together for the first time with their new companions. They begin the learning process of listening to and trusting each other. Guide dogs and their partners are matched based on their specific needs and skills, resulting in a lasting and treasured relationship.

Southeastern Guide Dogs provides multiple service programs including; Gifted Canines, Paws for Independence, and Paws for Patriots. Currently Southeastern Guide Dogs has more than eight-hundred active guide dog teams across the country and continues to create over seventy new teams each year. They welcome everyone to visit the campus, play with the puppies, walk the dogs and learn about the life changing work they perform. To contact Southeastern Guide Dogs for a group tour call 941.729.5665, visit their website at www.guidedogs.org or attend one of their Saturday open houses.