Freedom Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc

Freedom Guide Dogs is a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization based in Upstate New York, which breeds, raises, trains and places guide dogs with the blind and visually impaired through a distinctive program called Hometown Training TM. Freedom Guide Dogs' services are available to people in the Eastern United States at no cost.

Freedom Guide Dogs is a non-profit organization, located in Cassville, NY, that breeds, raises, trains and places guide dogs for the blind and visually impaired through Hometown Training TM.

Freedom Guide Dogs was founded in 1992 by husband & wife team Eric & Sharon Loori. As experienced guide dog trainers, they took their knowledge of a new home-based style of training and applied it to Labrador Retrievers.

Traditional guide dog schools use a facility-based method of training where the blind person must go to the school for a 3-4 week period to train with a guide dog. When training is complete the blind student brings the guide dog home with them.

Hometown Training TM allows us to bring a trained guide dog directly to the blind person’s home where we train with them for 2-3 weeks in their own, familiar environment. This is all at no cost to the client.

This program has proven to be very successful. Today Freedom has more than 120 clients in ten states throughout the Northeast because of their Hometown Training TM program.