Blogs

Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind

By Steve

Posted on May 30, 2012

The Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind is in the forefront of providing the most comprehensive services for the blind.

Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind enables blind and visually-impaired Israelis to achieve independence, mobility and self- esteem through working partnerships with guide dogs. Since Their founding in 1991, they have facilitated hundreds of Partnerships of blind Israelis with guide dogs throughout Israel. The dogs they use for breeding provide most of their puppies, though some are donated by generous colleagues in the International Guide Dog Federation. The pups are then raised by foster families all over Israel, including university students at Ben Gurion and Hebrew Universities. The staff handles all training and ensures the quality and placement of the pups.

Any blind Israeli adult who is physically and emotionally capable of caring for a guide dog and desires a more independent life is a candidate for a guide dog. They are expanding their facilities to meet the increasing demand for guide dogs.

Why Israel? Before the Center was established, the only way for blind Israelis to receive a guide dog was to travel abroad. Only Israelis fluent in English and able to leave for extended training periods could take advantage of this opportunity. Even the luckiest had little or no follow-up to facilitate successful adjustment to their new lives.

They provide: Instruction in Hebrew for both dogs and applicants

· Training in Israel’s unique physical environment with its innate challenges, i.e. sidewalks blocked by posts, streetlights, trash cans and parked cars as well as concrete security barriers at street corners, etc.
· Access to family and friends during the three-week course at our Beit Oved campus
· Home-based post-class training to help each applicant and guide dog adjust to changes in home and work environments
· The option of home-based instruction when appropriate
· Aftercare just a phone call away

How does it work? Puppies are weaned and given to Foster Families at two months of age. They remain with their families until age 1, gaining exposure to traffic, sitting quietly for periods of time, meeting new people, going to work, shopping at malls or supermarkets, visiting friends or restaurants and traveling on buses and trains to prepare them for lives as guide dogs. During this period, their families are supervised via regular visits from Center staff. The Foster Families provide time, effort, love and care and teach the pups right from left and right from wrong while the Center provides the dog food, veterinary care and guidance.

At the age of one year, the dogs are tested for suitability as guide dogs. Those found appropriate return to the Center for five months of intensive training. Each dog is matched with a blind Israeli.

who has also gone through a screening process and assessment to determine suitability as a guide dog user. The applicants then attend a four-week training course — three weeks at the Center and one

week at home where they adjust to the routine of normal life.

How long are you responsible for the guide dogs? Lifelong. Only 6 of every 10 puppies qualify as guide dogs. Those that don’t qualify are offered to the foster families that raised them or to families with vision- impaired children. A Partnership usually lasts 8 to 9 years. At that point, most dogs must be retired and their partners must retrain with a new dog to maintain their independence. When our dogs are ready to retire, we make sure that they live out their lives in comfort and security. They are first offered to their owners, then to their original Foster Families and then to other families. Retirees with health problems are often adopted by Center volunteers.

How much does it cost? The guide dogs and services are provided free-of-charge. The total cost of a guide dog Partnership, from the moment of the pup’s birth until it retires, is approximately $25,000. The cost to sponsor a puppy as a Mitzvah Project for Bar and Bat Mitzvah students is just $500. Puppy sponsors learn about the love, companionship and active, independent lifestyle enabled by the pairing of blind Israelis and guide dogs. Then, at the end of their Bar and Bat Mitzvah studies, puppy sponsors share their knowledge and experience with their congregations, explaining how they have grown through the process and what they have learned about guide dogs and assisting the Jewish community.

How is it funded? The Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind is a registered non-profit organization supported almost entirely by donations and bequests from individuals, foundations, companies and organizations that believe in our humanitarian work and through funds raised by Bar and Bat Mitzvah students. Their assistance enables visually-impaired Israelis to enjoy the mobility and independence that only guide dogs can offer.

These two photos below were taken a month ago when the a group from the IGDCB participated for the first time in the March of the Living.