Building On Our Success
District Cabinet Meeting - Sunday, October 14, 2018
Leader Dogs for the Blind Report

The Mission of Leader Dogs for the Blind to empowering people who are blind or visually impaired with lifelong skills for safe and independent daily travel.

The Vision of Leader Dogs for the Blind is that every person travels safely and independently. Most of us have heard about the Leader Dogs for the Blind that was started in 1939 to provide seeing eye dogs for people in Michigan. The program has grown from the original that was started by three Lions members to one where Wisconsin Lions are the fourth largest contributor in the world. Leader Dogs for the blind started a program in cooperation with the Iowa department of corrections in 2013 that utilized prisoners to train the dogs. This program has proven itself by improving relations between the prisoners and prison staff and in fact has provided Leader Dog with dogs that have a greater success rate than dogs that have been trained by individual households. The prison program has also been expanded to include some Wisconsin prisons as well. Leader Dogs for the Blind has their own breeding program, trains individuals to use White Canes and also has a summer camp for sixteen and seventeen year old teens that provides opportunities for the teens to become more independent. Leader Dog also started a program where dogs are trained to understand American Sign Language to be partnered with individuals who are both blind and deaf. Leader Dogs was the first group to provide this service.

Please consider a donation to Leader Dog because all services are provided for no charge. Leader Dog also has recognitions that can be purchased for individuals.

Eric Holthaus