Can anyone share with me your thoughts and/or experience with donating a puppy to Seeing Eye.
I am considering doing something like that and a friend suggested that organization.
Other organizations?
Thanks for any info.
I donated a dog to a different guide dog organization and did not have a positive experience. The thing that disappointed me was the lack of quality veterinary care they gave the dogs. They also were not truthful about the placement of my dog.
I would recommend looking at Leader Dog and contacting them for more information. They have a very good program and I know of several breeders that work with them.
I donated a puppy to Seeing Eye. They were wonderful. We were kept aware of what was going on with the dog and when he graduated, we were invited to visit with him before he was placed with his blind owner. It was a very good experience.
I too have donated to Leader Dogs for the Blind in Michigan. The feed back is wonderful. They track each puppy or dog through training, health clearances and you get a photo of the dog with their new owners. It is a good feeling to donate to them.
I donated two stud services to them many years ago. One was arranged by the breeder, and I didn't get any feedback on that one. The other was requested by Leader Dogs, and I received a report on the dogs that didn't qualify (1 or 2) and why they didn't, which was useful information. I got photographs of the 5 that did become Leader Dogs with their new partners. I have also donated puppies to Pause with a Cause and have sometimes had to request information, but it was always forthcoming when I asked. They will not release the names or addresses of recipients because of privacy issues, but they will give your information to the recipients, who can then contact you if they want to do so. I kept track of several for their entire lives, and one even came to a puppy party I held as well as the foster parent, so they had a nice reunion.
I have donated to both Seeing Eye and Guide Dogs for the Blind in Smithtown, NY. Personally, I enjoyed dealing with Seeing Eye a bit better. But I had graduates in both programs.
I have also donated to a wonderful group in CO called Freedom Dogs. They train assistance dogs for Iraq & Afghanistan War Vets. Great group and LOVED the feedback I got from them. I would send another to them in a heart beat!
I have given a 50% off "donation" to qualified special needs famiiies where they hired a private trainer to train the dog. 2 were for children, one who had a bad experience in the past with a pretrained dog not bonding to the child, it had been trained and exposed only to adults.
One of my service "pups" lives 2 blocks from me and serves an 11 year old girl who has no legs. She could not qualify for a service dog through Paws until 14 years old in our area. My dog has been the best thing socially for her and she has done much of the training herself with the help of a trainer. People comment on the gorgeous dog and a converstion begins where she tells them she did most of the training herself. It is a wonderful thing to see.
The nice thing about these set ups is you keep contact with the dog like with any family. I did the temperament testing and thank God that each dog fits each child perfectly. I think breeder directly to client is most successful.
I have a family friend who just called looking to see if any breeders donated pups..they have a child with a rare form of Muscular Dystrophy. They are looking into
getting him an assistance dog or what is referred to for a child as a "skilled companion". They are applying to waiting lists for all the big org. but the wait is at least 2 years and, you can be dropped at any time from the list. They were trying to see if they could get a pup that temperament tested okay for this type of work and train the pup with a private trainer for the tasks the child will need.
This is a thought, not sure where you are but they are in Long Island NY. You can contact me privately if you want any other info.
