UPDATE 7/20/2015

It's official - TRUCKEE IS GRADUATING!!  He is now in "Class"!!

Class
By the time the dogs finish their final exams in Phase 8, blind and vision-impaired clients have already been scheduled to arrive for the next class. Instructors conduct pre-class phone meetings to begin the matching process between client and dog. Matches are finalized once students arrive at campus and class training has begun. To make the best matches possible, GDB has more dogs than clients. This means that there are always a handful of dogs remaining for placement in a future class. These dogs continue in training with the next group of instructors and dogs.
There are different class-training program options available to clients. GDB offers two week classes for in-residence client training.
On occasion, for either health or other compelling personal reasons, some clients do best with training in their own home area. In these instances, the client does not train at a GDB campus. This is called an in-home training. Most in-home training clients do not participate in a formal graduation ceremony, unless they live close to one of our campuses and are able to attend. For those clients unable to attend a ceremony, please refer to the “Graduation” portion of this packet for special arrangements afforded to raisers whose dogs are trained in-home.


Depending on whether they are training in California or Oregon, clients begin training with their new Guide Dogs in residential areas of San Rafael or Gresham, respectively, and transition to routes in San Francisco or Portland. The new teams encounter many different situations together: public transportation (cars, city buses, subway systems, and ferries), heavy traffic, construction, escalators, areas with no sidewalks, etc.
GDB clients come from many different geographical areas and walks of life. Clients customize their training and do routes that are similar to their home areas. Our lecture titled “Special Travel Conditions” offers tips to help prepare clients and their new guides to travel in extreme climates (snow travel or hot temperatures).
Class instruction and graduation are a culmination of a lot of hard work by many people. From staff who breed these special dogs, to the volunteers who love and house the breeder dogs, to the volunteers that socialize the young puppies and work in other areas on campus, to the immense efforts and commitment of the puppy raising community, to the dedicated and talented training and graduate service staff, and to our generous donors… it takes an involved community to create and support, a Guide Dog team. All of these efforts provide the foundation to shape a wonderful d