As you walk along a sidewalk in downtown Missoula, you notice a pedestrian coming towards you. Their head is up, and they move confidently along the congested sidewalk. They grasp a U-shaped handle in their left hand which is attached to the harness of their guide dog. As you watch, the dog deftly maneuvers the person around a light pole, a garbage can, two other pedestrians, and eventually stops with its head pointing to the pedestrian crossing button on a pole just before the intersection. You wonder, “how does this dog do this? Where did it come from?”

These supremely well-trained canines generally come from one of 16 guide dog schools in the US. Schools typically breed their own dogs, though a few will use reputable breeders to source their animals. Much effort goes into breeding dogs that have the temperament, intelligence and physical characteristics to become a successful guide. Once the puppies are around seven or eight weeks old, they are placed with volunteer puppy raisers for the next year. These foster families love, care for, play with and socialize the puppy and initiate basic obedience training. Raisers in larger communities get together to help each other with issues and practice skills they are working on. Representatives from the schools carefully monitor each puppy’s progress.

When the puppies are around 14 months old, the raisers must say goodbye as their charges are recalled to their school. After a careful assessment of their health and readiness for guide dog training, the dogs are either sent on for several months of rigorous training by professional guide dog trainers, or they are “career changed”. Less than half the dogs who start life as potential guides are able to complete the program. When this happens, the school finds a new path for each dog that fits their personality and aptitudes. They might become a service dog for someone who is deaf, has epilepsy or diabetes, or needs assistance with mobility challenges. They might have a nose suitable for tracking or drug detection. Or perhaps their destiny lies as a family companion.

For those dogs that make the cut, they now begin their formal guide work training. They are introduced to their new harness and begin to learn basic commands such as “forward”, “halt”, and directional commands. They learn to stop at curbs, tops and bottoms of stairs, and obstacles they cannot navigate around, all while ignoring distraction’s. More advanced training involves riding public transit, managing revolving doors, elevators, escalators and settling unobtrusively under chairs or tables in restaurants. If presented with food from anyone but their handler, they are trained to refuse it and also to refrain from floor surfing. Further skills they must learn include guiding in heavy pedestrian areas and dealing with unexpected vehicle movements. They are also taught “intelligent “disobedience” where the dog intentionally disobeys the handler to keep them safe.

Most people with visual impairments opt for a white cane, a sighted guide or their own limited vision to travel outside their homes. But those who choose a guide dog report that the dog vastly improves their speed, efficiency and safety. But just as with sighted pedestrians, guide dog teams need properly maintained sidewalks, drivers who pay attention to foot traffic, well designed street crossings at busy intersections, and timely snow removal and ice mitigation to ensure safe travel. Missoulians all have a part to play in keeping our local guide dog teams moving unhindered through our community.

You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future.

To contact the Missoula chapter of the NFB, email us at missoulachapter@nfbmt.org