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Our newest recruits
We were recently excited to welcome the NOP Training Group to Guide Dogs SA/NT! These 12 adorable puppies will hopefully grow up to become lifechanging Guide or Assistance Dogs.
Two of these puppies are Norris and Neville. We hope that one day, Norris, Neville, and their training companions will each become a Guide Dog or Assistance Dog. But to help them achieve their potential, we must raise much-needed funds to support their training and development.
Your support today will enable us to provide independence, participation, inclusion, and wellbeing to people living with low vision, blindness, and other specialised needs.
By making a donation, you will help us to train more dogs to ensure our clients can safely and confidently navigate their environment, giving them greater access to our community.
Training our puppies
Before our puppies can become life-changing companions, they undergo extensive training with our expert staff.
Robbie, one of our Puppy Raising Advisors, explains:
“Our puppies arrive at 8-weeks-old to start their training journey. They are placed with Puppy Raisers and over 12-15 months we focus on giving the puppies appropriate exposure to different things as well as teaching them basic commands.”
“They have individual and group training sessions where they are exposed to many different environments and activities, like visiting cafes, going to shops, and catching public transport. They also start to learn obedience skills, social cues, and the right behavioral traits.”
Following this initial stage, our puppies move on to formal training.
Leigh, our Assistance Dog Instructor, explains that “our formal training teaches our dogs the actions they might undertake in daily life as a Guide Dog. These include navigation, traffic awareness, obstacle avoidance, problem solving and directional commands among many other important skills.”
This process takes more than two years and over $50,000.
Watch our puppies in action!
Your contribution will enable us to provide independence, participation, inclusion, and wellbeing to people living with low vision, blindness, and other specialised needs.
Meet our client Emily and her Guide Dog, Tanner
University student Emily has been supported by Guide Dogs SA/NT for several years.
Emily lost her vision at only 12 years old. Being so young and having just endured so much trauma, she found motivation hard to muster. Emily found strength in the knowledge that one day, she could apply for a Guide Dog.
“The thought of one day receiving my paw-fect guide got me through some of the darkest times of my life and encouraged me to further my independence through using my long cane,” said Emily.
“There are not enough words to articulate how Tanner has changed my life,” Emily explains.
“Tanner is all I have ever wanted and so much more. Not only does he help me navigate, but he makes me feel safe when I am traveling somewhere alone as a woman with a disability. He is simultaneously my best friend, my baby, and the love of my life. I can’t imagine my life without him.”
