Guide Dogs of America Mission

The Guide Dogs of America Mission video displays from start to finish the process in which we use to develop strong guide dogs. At Guide Dogs of America, it is our mission to empower people who are blind or visually impaired to live with more confidence, independence, and mobility by providing expertly matched guide dog partners. Through out the video there are various scenes from around our campus such as our nursery, kennels, and visitor education center.

Hi I'm Russ Gittlen director of Guide Dogs of America. This little girl here is

going to grow up and change the life of someone who is blind or visually

impaired please take a few minutes and watch how your continued support helps

change peoples lives. Our guide dog school in Sylmar, California

is where we do our work. Raising a single puppy, let alone several litters

is quite a handful to say the least. We have a truly loving and

dedicated staff here in the nursery. Once the puppies reach eight-weeks of

age, they are sent home with our generous volunteer puppy raisers.

at around eighteen months old our dogs enter formal training with our guide dog

instructors. Our instructors work with each dog to teach them advanced commands

for moving through a world of obstacles, various modes of transit, and how to

identify dangerous situations. Each dog is monitored and analyzed for their

temperament energy and overall personailty so that when the students

come to GDA for their training each dog can be matched to the appropriate human

to make the best guide dog team possible.