The Coto De Caza News,
October 1, 1998

South Orange County Dog Graduates As Guide Dog

 Graduation day at Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc., in San Rafael, California, was a proud one for the adult and youth raisers of South Orange County’s VIP3 Club who presented one of the dogs they raised to a blind person as a full-fledged Guide Dog. Shown above is the Archdeacon family who presented Kalee, a Yellow Labrador Retriever, to Tom Hutchinson of Ogden , Utah, at ceremonies recently held in San Rafael. Before Kalee returned to Guide Dogs for the Blind for her formal training in March, 1998, she was often seen with her raiser during socialization training sessions in local shopping malls, sports events, grocery stores, and other areas around Rancho Santa Margarita and Coto de Caza. Kalee also attended church weekly at San Francisco Solano Catholic Church in Ranch Santa Margarita with the Archdeacon family.
Guide Dog pups are born at the Guide Dog kennels. At two months of age, they are placed in the homes of puppy raisers, such as the Archdeacon family, who housetrain the pups and teach them social skills. This socializing by the raiser helps to lay a solid foundation for the future work of the dogs as Guide Dogs.
When the dogs are about sixteen months old, they are returned to the school to being a four to five month program of Guide Dog training with licensed instructors.
Following the completion of training, the dogs are matched with blind people enrolled at the school. The new person-dog team completes an intensive, in-residence course at the Guide Dog school, culminating in a graduation ceremony at which the raiser presents the dog to the new graduate.
Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc. provides dogs and training entirely free of charge to qualified blind men and women throughout the United States and Canada. The program receives no state or federal funding, but depends entirely on donations for its existence.
For more information about Guide Dogs, phone or write to Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc., PO Box 151200, San Rafael, CA 94915, or call (800)295-4050. Or visit their Web Site at www.guidedogs.com. For more information about the VIP3 Puppy Raising Club here in South Orange County, visit their Web Site at www.comline.com/guidedogs. Please meet Kalee at her graduation via her own dedicated web page at www.comline.com/guidedogs/kalee.htm.