11/04/2026
What does it take to become a Guide Dog Instructor? One very important step is learning from the student perspective. 🦮
Six of our newest Guide Dog Trainer Trainees recently completed an immersive week-long workshop designed to deepen their understanding of the guide dog journey and the experiences of the people they will one day support as they train with their new partners.
Paired with guide dogs, assigned dorm rooms, and guided by experienced instructors, our trainees spent each day learning non-visual travel skills while navigating campus under blindfold.
While no training can fully replicate the lived experience of a person who is blind or visually impaired, the workshop helps trainees develop a greater appreciation for the trust, partnership, and independence that guide dogs make possible.
That perspective is invaluable! It helps shape compassionate instructors who are better prepared to support future guide dog teams and reinforces the life-changing impact of the work they do every day. ❤️
Video description:
1] Sara, Gabie, Sky, Chris, Megan, and Jen, six new Guide Dog Trainer Trainees sit in chairs against the wall in Alumni Hall. Each person wears a blindfold over their eyes and holds a leather guide dog harness.
Text: The next generation of Guide Dog Trainers, learning from the student perspective
2] Sky holds a leather leash held by Senior Guide Dog Mobility Instructor Kat and feels where the leash is connected to the O-ring and unclips, trailing the leash up before connecting it to the other O-ring, creating a longer leash.
3] Gabie stands at the end of a leather leash and faces Trainee Manager Ben, who holds the collar connected to the leash taught, to indicate what it would be like to work with a dog. Gabie trails the leash and returns to Ben’s side, indicating asking the dog to stay and then returning to their side.
4] Ben walks ahead of Gabie, holding the front of a leather guide harness as Gabie holds the handle and follows.
Text: Six of our newest Guide Dog Trainer Trainees completed a week-long workshop, focusing on skills such as “Juno obedience”
5] Jen walks down the hallway of the Training School with a white cane with Chris walking behind her as they head towards their dorm rooms.
Text: Cane travel
6] Gabie, Megan, Jen, Chris, Sara, and Sky all sit in the gazebo off the nature path at Guiding Eyes with male black lab Einstein, female yellow lab Yami, male yellow lab Rio, male yellow lab Porter, male yellow lab Fleetwood, and male yellow lab Simba, all wearing leather guide harnesses.
Text: Being matched with a guide dog
7] Chris and Porter walk together down the walkway on the Guiding Eyes nature path.
8] Megan and Yami approach a yellow truncated dome indicating the start of the sidewalk outside of the Guiding Eyes building, Sky and Megan working down the hallway with Yami and Simba in harness, and Jen and Rio stopping at the carpet in the hallway, before making a right turn and heading towards Rosie’s Cafe.
9] Megan gives Yami a treat at the end of the crosswalk leading to the double doors outside of Alumni Hall on campus.
Text: and learning to work with them!
