Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation

Journey from Pup to Fidelco Guide Dog Partner

At Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, our Guide Dog Program exemplifies compassionate care for both the clients we serve and the Guide Dogs we raise and train.

When German Shepherd puppies are born on the Fidelco campus, they are cared for by a loving Animal Husbandry staff who teaches early reward-based training.

At eight weeks of age, these future Fidelco Guide Dogs are brought home by a volunteer puppy raiser family who will care for and teach the young pup basic skills that it will need throughout its life.

Approximately one year later, the volunteer puppy raiser family returns the puppy to Fidelco, where it formally enters our Guide Dog Training Program.

For the next eight months, the dog works with a professional trainer/instructor on formal guide skills that will enable the dog to safely Share the Vision with a blind partner.

Once the perfect client-dog match is made by our expert placement staff, a fully-trained Fidelco Guide Dog is partnered with a man or woman who is blind.

This incredible partnership will continue for ten years or more. And, when a Fidelco Guide Dog's working career is done, Fidelco ensures a loving home for all of our retired Guide Dogs.