- About Costs
- About Mobility
- About Our Dogs
- About Our History
- About The Application Process
- About The Training Process
- About Visiting The Center
Family and friends are allowed for visits during the weekends. Because of the rigorous schedule during the week and the need for students to bond with their new Guide Dog, visitors are not allowed during weekdays.
Three weeks at our center plus an additional week in their home.
Unfortunately, a puppy’s immune system is not fully developed at birth, so it could be dangerous for humans to handle them. You will be able to interact with the other dogs on campus.
We welcome visitors to tour our facility. We only ask that you please call or email and set up an appointment prior to your visit so that we may have a staff member available to show you around. We also welcome tour groups.
We provide transportation to and from the center. We also provide the housing and meals during the three-week training course. All of this is done free of charge.
There is no upper age limit for receiving a guide dog. Elderly people can continue to use a guide dog as long as they can walk safely and at a reasonable pace and care for the dog.
Most people who are legally blind are not totally blind. Many can see colors or shapes; however, it is very important to let the Guide Dog provide safe mobility for the team. If someone has too much sight, they stop relying on the dog, and the partnership breaks down.
To volunteer as a puppy raiser, you must live in Israel, complete an application and submit it. If you are accepted, it usually takes between 6 months to a year before you will receive a puppy. Puppy raising is our most popular volunteer program.
Yes. The instructors, in some cases, will provide domiciliary training or at-home instruction, usually to more experienced Guide Dog users but also in such situations where the person is needed at home and cannot leave a spouse for three weeks of instruction at the Center.
It takes approximately a year to a year-and-a-half to obtain a Guide Dog in Israel. We are trying to grow to meet the demand and shorten the waiting time, but our success depends on finding generous donors who understand why it is so important to help visually impaired Israelis resume their lives as productive citizens.
Professional trainers at the Center evaluate each dog and each applicant. Dogs are assessed for their size, strength, and temperament. They are then carefully matched to suit each client according to his or her physical strength, pace and lifestyle.
After we receive an inquiry, one of our Mobility Instructors will visit an applicant in their home to evaluate their circumstances and to make sure that the environment is appropriate for a Guide Dog. We also provide a three-day orientation course at our center for people who are not sure that having a Guide Dog is the right step for them.
Applicants must be Israeli citizens, at least 16 years old, legally blind, physically and emotionally capable of caring for a dog, and must be able to provide a safe and loving environment. All applicants are interviewed and screened to determine whether a guide dog will provide the best solution for mobility. Since we have a long waiting list, we won’t provide a Guide Dog to simply be a companion.
Absolutely! We have non-profit status in Israel, Canada and the United States. In the UK, we are part of the “gift aid” program where we receive a percentage match from the British government.
Through donations by individuals, foundations, organizations, synagogues and bequests in the UK, Canada, Israel and the United States. In addition, there are many Bar and Bat Mitzvah students who raise funds to sponsor puppies as their Mitzvah Project. Approximately 8% of the annual operating budget is paid by the Israel Ministries of Defense and Welfare.
From breeding to training—including the cost to train the visually impaired partner—we estimate the cost of a Partnership to be USD $32,000. This does not include the other overhead costs involved with running the center. When overhead is factored in, the cost is closer to $43,000 each. Keep in mind that a guide dog works every day, 365 days a year for approximately eight years. This is a life-changing gift to someone who is blind from a great charity in Israel.
There is no charge to our clients for the Center’s services which include the dog, the in-residence training in the effective use of the dog, dog handling equipment and follow-up or after-care services.
Guide Dog Schools usually train their own Guide Dog Instructors. As an aspiring instructor you would need to seek an apprenticeship at the school of your choice. Once accepted you can expect the apprenticeship to last for a period of at least three years before being fully qualified. During that time you will learn aspects of dog care and guide dog training, mobility and orientation, as well as working directly with blind and visually impaired people. The job demands the ability to take responsibility, working independently and as part of a team. The instructor is required to work in all types of weather. The work is challenging and rewarding.
Our instructors are always available to address any questions our clients may have about training or care of their Guide Dog. Our trainers also conduct follow-up interviews by phone with clients who have just completed their four-week instruction, and will follow up with regular home visits. Follow-up is an essential part of our program as we provide a lifetime commitment to all of our graduates.
Guide dogs trained at the Center are taught to deal with difficult conditions that exist in Israel, including numerous types of obstacles on the sidewalk, difficult traffic conditions, and the hot climate.
A dog and person can operate safely at the completion of the instruction period. However, the dog must get adjusted to its new home and to its partner’s routine. It takes about six months before the pair can function smoothly as a team.
Yes. The dog is taught to judge its partner’s width as well as its own. This enables the dog to safely guide the blind person around other people, parked cars on sidewalks, telephone or electric poles, etc. While more difficult, the dog is also taught to judge height which enables it to guide the person safely to avoid overhead obstacles such as low-hanging branches.
A Guide Dog must learn to sit, stay and turn on command. It must learn to ignore any distractions, including children playing, other animals and birds while working.
The dog is trained to stop at all curbs and wait for its partner’s command to go forward or to turn.
The dog doesn’t. People who are blind generally know how to reach a destination by knowing how many blocks to go, in which direction to turn, etc. The person gives the dog commands that will enable the dog to guide them safely to their destinations. The basic commands are “forward,” “right,” and “left.” In all, the dogs understand about 40 commands—in Hebrew. (Click here for a list of commands.) In a new or unfamiliar location, a person who is blind—like sighted people—will ask for directions and communicate them to the dog by using the proper commands. Sometimes when a team (Guide Dog and partner) have frequently walked to a certain destination, the dog will remember the route. However, it is always the blind partner’s responsibility to know where to go.
Dogs don’t see colors the same way we do and can’t read traffic lights. The dog’s blind partner learns to judge the movement of traffic by its sounds. At the appropriate time, he or she will command the dog, “kadema” (forward). The dog will not carry out the command unless it is safe to do so. This is called “intelligent disobedience.”
Guide Dogs are trained in the same way as many pets, with lots of repetition and positive reinforcement. At the age of two months, puppies leave their litter and spend about a year in homes with volunteer puppy raisers where they learn left from right and right from wrong. The raisers expose them to everyday sights and sounds and also teach them basic obedience and commands. Puppy raisers provide socialization while giving lots of love. When the dog is 12-14 months old, it returns to our center for assessment, and if selected, begins a four to five month course of formal harness training with a professional Mobility Instructor. During this time, they learn Guide Dog skills, such as finding sidewalks and avoiding obstacles. When the dog successfully completes training, it’s matched with a blind Israeli. The new partners then train together, under the supervision of our instructors for three weeks at our center and an additional week of instruction in their home.
The general rule is that working Guide Dogs should be ignored. Distractions take their concentration away from the work they have to do—which can put the dog and its blind partner in jeopardy. Click here to learn about etiquette when interacting with someone who is blind.
In Israel, everywhere! Guide Dogs are allowed to travel for free on buses, trains, taxis and in the passenger section of aircraft. Guide Dogs are also allowed to enter any public place including restaurants, theaters, sports facilities and hotels. Refusing entry to a person accompanied by a Guide Dog is against the law and can incur a large fine.
If you think that a Guide Dog user needs assistance, calmly ask if he or she would like help. If they accept your offer to cross the street or find a destination, offer them your left elbow or shoulder to hold. Walk slightly in front and alongside the person at a normal pace and warn them of obstacles or changes in elevation – a step up or down. Never touch the dog or take hold of its collar or harness.
The greatest difficulty Guide Dog users encounter is public interference—which can endanger their lives. When a guide dog is in harness it is working and should not be distracted from its job. So please do not pet the dog, call or whistle to it, or feed the dog. If the dog is resting, always ask the dog’s partner for permission to pet the dog.
A person using a white cane must find obstacles, while a guide dog simply avoids them—allowing much faster mobility. Those who choose to work with a Guide Dog often discover a new sense of freedom, an increased level of confidence, and a feeling of safety, along with the warm companionship of their new canine friend. People generally avoid a blind person with the cane; whereas, someone with a Guide Dog will often be approached by others, which encourages social contact.
Many students select us for their Bar/Bat Mitzvah Project, or Classroom Tzedakah Project. This is a great way for them to feel connected to a charity in Israel to help provide a Guide Dog for someone who is visually impaired, a Service Dog for an IDF soldier who has experienced service-related trauma, an Emotional Support dog for a child on the autism spectrum, or provide a four-legged best friend for disabled adults with other special needs. Our website has a section dedicated to Mitzvah and Tzedakah projects.
Prior to opening our center, visually impaired Israelis had to be proficient in English, pass a government test, and travel to either the US or the UK for a dog—that was trained in English and not accustomed to the heat or the unique conditions in Israel. Essential follow up care by staff was not possible, so having highly trained instructors just a couple of hours away is critical.
There are over 24,000 legally blind Israelis, according to government records, but the Association for the Blind in Israel thinks the number is closer to 40,000. It’s easy to understandwhy the demand for our services is so high, and why we have such a long waiting list.
The center was established in January of 1991. Our first client was Haim Tsur, a concert violinist from Jerusalem who graduated with Tillie, a Yellow Lab that was donated by Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (now UK Guide Dogs) in the UK.
The Israel Guide Dog Center maintains ownership of the guide dog from birth through retirement. Once a guide dog retires, ownership is transferred either to its blind partner or to the new adoptive family.
No, but thank you for asking. We breed our own puppies from a set of parents who are carefully screened for trainability, health and temperament. Occasionally, we will accept puppies from breeders or other Guide Dog schools whose dogs conform to our rigorous health requirements. Good genes are critical to a successful breeding program.
If you want to follow a puppy, you can join our monthly donor program and follow a puppy from birth until placement. After the dog is placed with a client, we will no longer follow the team. We give our dogs to people “with no strings attached”, so our clients are not asked to provide photos or additional follow-up after graduation.
Each litter is assigned a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and the dogs are given English names, to avoid confusion so the dog will not hear its name called out while working in public spaces in Israel. In 2022 we started a program so you can name a puppy. Some restrictions apply. Click here for more information.
Approximately 75-120 pups.
There is no difference. The first guide dog school in America is called The Seeing Eye. They trademarked the term “Seeing Eye Dog”, but there is no significant difference between the training of a Guide Dog in Israel, and a Seeing Eye Dog from Morristown, New Jersey.
It varies depending on factors such as the number of breeding dogs and size of litters, and the number of dogs that are required to enter guide dog training.
No. A guide dog’s job is to lead a person who is blind safely. The breeds that are used for guide dogs are calm and non-aggressive, and they do not attack strangers or bite. It is extremely important that the dogs remain calm when they are working in crowded or noisy public places.
There is no difference.
All of the dogs we breed and raise assist someone in need. About half become guide dogs, and the rest that don’t meet our high standards are offered to people with Special Needs—such as a child who is blind or on the autism spectrum, IDF soldiers suffering from PTSD, or to those with other physical, emotional or psychological needs.
The average working life for a Guide Dog is 8 years. Retired Guide Dogs may be kept as pets by their blind partner, or adopted by a loving home such as the original puppy-raising family. We have a long waiting list of loving families who want to adopt retired dogs.
Labradors and Golden Retrievers (and first-crosses) have proven to be best suited to be guide dogs because they are highly trainable, responsive, intelligent, not easily distracted, and have calm temperaments. Occasionally, we provide German Shepherds if a student requests it, and we have provided Standard Poodles to students who are allergic to long-hair dogs.