We offer hands-on seminars to Orientation and Mobility Specialists and O&M students in training.
These seminars are designed to enable participants to:
- Identify and advise clients who are considering a guide dog
- Prepare clients who will be training with guide dogs
- Work more effectively with clients who have guide dogs
- Gain a thorough understanding of what guide dogs and guide dog training are about
During the seminar you’ll learn about:
- Guide dog training techniques
- Street crossings
- Orientation
- Patterning and conditioning for specific travel objectives
- Common Dos and Don’ts of guide dog travel
- How we make great matches between people and guide dogs
Each participant will get to work with a senior Guide Dog Instructor and will walk both sighted and under blindfold with the dog in harness.
The on-site seminar also includes time with instructors, specialized and admissions staff, and earns certified O&M specialists ACVREP-approved CE units.
Seminar groups have up to eight participants.
On-site seminars are held between April and November.
We can also bring our seminar to your agency or college if you have a minimum of five O&M professionals or students who wish to participate.
For more information, please contact:
Admissions Department
(800) 942-0149 ext. 2222
admissions@guidingeyes.org
![This week's Transformation Tuesday features Icarus, a sweet yellow lab. In April, the happy pup completed home training with his handler, Kate. Icarus is Kate's 2nd guide dog from our Specialized Training Program, developed to empower people with vision loss who have additional challenges.
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While training, Icarus impressed Kate with how quickly he caught on to navigating her neighborhood. “I have walking routes around the neighborhood and the second time we returned, he automatically knew where my house was and which driveway was mine. It blew my mind!"
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Kate also highlights how much she enjoyed her time with Andrea Martine, Specialized Training GDMI. "My instructor, Andrea, was wonderful to me. She was very patient and taught me a lot of new things as well as some refreshers, like leash cues and keeping my arm relaxed. She even helped us with the integration of Icarus into a household with two other dogs. We greatly appreciated all her help."
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Icarus was raised by the Yang Family in our @guidingeyes_dominion Region. They sent us this note about their time with Icarus:
"If I had to sum up your journey, I would say 'perseverance'! You were quite the pup, keeping us on our toes. Having three young kids at home we 'persevered' a ton on ignoring stuffed animals and socks and learning good house manners. Perseverance in helping you through your fears of hand dryers and metro gates and all the challenges we have faced together. You paraded through IFT like a champ and persevered through specialized guide training throughout a pandemic. You made it 'Icky', and we are so proud of you and overjoyed!"
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Click the link in our bio to read more.
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Picture Description:
[1] Icarus, a yellow lab, is pictured as an adorable puppy sitting in the grass.
📷: @JosephGruber / @BlueMarblePhotography
[2] Icarus poses for a portrait with Kate in front of a lake at a local park. As Kate smiles, Icarus reaches his head up to give her a kiss.
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#InternationalAssistanceDogWeek #GuidingEyes #AssistanceDogWeek #FromPuppyToGuideDog #DogWithAJob #PupWithAPurpose #GuideDogsOfInstagram #CharityTuesday #AssistanceDogWeek2021 #InternationalAssistanceDogWeek2021](https://www.guidingeyes.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
