Rochester Hills, Michigan, June 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leader Dogs for the Blind, located in Southeast Michigan since 1939, announced today that it donated five dogs to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind Guide Dogs (CNIB) in Ontario, Canada to help people who are blind or visually impaired. This is the second time Leader Dogs for the Blind donated dogs to CNIB since the COVID-19 pandemic created a crisis for the Canadian organization because they could not get dogs to train from their normal source.
CNIB Guide Dogs is relatively new, so it has not yet established its own breeding program. They reached out to Leader Dog for the first time in November 2020 and Leader Dog sent five dogs on November 17. “We have high regard for the CNIB Guide Dogs team and were happy to partner with them,” said LDB Chief Operating Officer Lorene Suidan. “We took a good look at our dogs in training, and we realized that we could send several dogs to Canada and still maintain our ability to serve our clients.”
CNIB in turn helped by training a Leader Dog client in Ontario whose wait for a guide dog was lengthened due to the pandemic. Leader Dog transferred one of their trained guide dogs to a CNIB guide dog mobility instructor, who took the dog to the client and trained them to work together to Leader Dog standards.
“Leader Dog is a strong advocate for cooperation among guide dog organizations,” said Susan Daniels, Leader Dog president and CEO. “This collaboration is a great example of what can be accomplished, even during a global pandemic, when we come together to serve more people who are blind. After all, that is the end goal for all of us.”
For additional information, visit www.leaderdog.org or contact Rachelle Kniffen, director of communications and marketing at (248) 659-5013.
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About Leader Dogs for the Blind
Leader Dogs for the Blind is a nonprofit organization providing people who are blind or visually impaired with lifelong skills for safe and independent daily travel through the use of a guide dog or a white cane. All services are provided free of charge. The organization also trains guide dogs for people who are Deaf-Blind, offers a summer camp for teens, and holds seminars for orientation and mobility (O&M) professionals and university students. Leader Dogs for the Blind partners with agencies and O&M professionals throughout the U.S. to provide their clients with supplemental O&M training.
For more information, call (888) 777-5332 or visit LeaderDog.org.
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