Guiding Eyes for the Blind
Encyclopedia
Guiding Eyes for the Blind (GEB) is one of eleven accredited schools in the U.S. for training guide dog
s — dogs trained to lead the blind
and visually impaired
. With its 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) headquarters, training center and veterinary clinic in Yorktown Heights, New York
, GEB also operates a canine development center in Patterson, New York
and a training site in White Plains, New York
.
The school was established in 1956 by Donald Z. Kauth in a 19th-century farmhouse and now includes a campus where GEB breeds and trains dogs for the visually impaired as well as a small number of the dogs trained to identify drugs and bombs for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The organization uses a three-stage process for training its guide dogs — first rearing the dogs in a controlled foster program that extends across the east coast of the United States, then formally training the dogs at the New York campus, and lastly bringing the visually impaired students to New York to co-train each guide dog with their new master. As of 2010, GEB had graduated over 7,300 guide dogs.
The first phase of training, the rearing of puppies, is performed by volunteers through various programs. The organization places puppies for 16-18 months among 400 qualified volunteers along the East Coast. Volunteer puppy-raisers have a support network of evaluators and area coordinators. Evaluators visit the training homes at three month intervals, verifying the progress and health of the dogs, and foster homes receive the dog's veterinary care as well as major supplies.
Prior to entering the second phase, dogs are vetted for their confidence in new situations, their ability to ignore loud noises and distractions and their ability to make decisions under pressure. Tests include opening an umbrella in close proximity and firing a gun near the puppy in training. Dogs must successfully walk on a leash without pulling and navigate a food-filled obstacle course without stopping. Of the dogs raised, only half are ultimately suitable as guide dogs. Dogs that don't proceed in training are offered for adoption through another of GEB's programs.
In the second phase dogs are taught basic commands and specific skills: how to negotiate high and low obstacles, how to lead ahead of the guided individual rather than in a heel position and how to stop at curbs and stairs. Dogs are further taught to avoid food and ignore other dogs.
In 1995, a GEB trainer said "the cornerstone of guide-dog training is intelligent disobedience. A guide dog will follow its partner's orders to go forward up to a point, but it will put on the brakes if it sees a car bearing down on them. What makes them do that is their basic instinct for self-preservation." The program graduates about 170 dogs a year, with the dogs primarily trained for the visually impaired and dogs typically retiring after 8 to 10 years of guide work.
For the third phase of the program, blind or visually impaired students enroll in a 26-day class, offered year-round, in which they are paired and trained with their guide dog — at a cost of approximately $45,000 per student-dog team. There is no cost to the student. Students learn to get the most mobility and safety out from their teamwork with their dog, while increasing their confidence in the relationship.
GEB has successfully used prison inmates to rear its dogs via the Puppies Behind Bars (PBB) program — a program where inmates at Fishkill Correctional Facility
, Bedford Hills Correctional Facility and other facilities complete the first phase of GEB's dog rearing program. The program was founded by Gloria Gilbert Stoga in 1997 (then serving on the Youth Empowerment Services Commission in New York
) and is designed so inmates are responsible for the nurturing and rearing of the puppies around the clock, 24 hours a day.
The program began after Stoga researched and was turned down by guide dog schools. Schools as well as prisons were concerned that prisoners would abuse the puppies or train them to attack.
Stoga contracted with GEB to buy five dogs that could not pass the school's rigorous training. GEB eventually donated the same dogs, puppies that had been deemed unqualified to graduate to guide dog status. Ultimately those same dogs, reared with PBB, became qualified as accredited guide dogs.
In PBB, inmates are screened carefully, must have exemplary records and are assigned in pairs to each puppy — a primary and secondary caretaker. The teams live separate from the general population. In 2004, Smithsonian Magazine reported that GEB provided about 35 dogs annually to the program and that after seven years, GEB had expanded the program to six prisons at no cost to the participating states.
A 2011 multi-generational volunteer dog foster program at Atlantic Shores http://www.atlanticshoresliving.com in Virginia Beach, Virginia
, one of the first programs of its type in the nation, brings together qualified retirement community residents and elementary school students. The foster puppies will live with selected senior citizens in the Atlantic Shores retirement community, where the dogs will have early exposure to elevators, sidewalks, ramps, wheelchairs, and sliding doors — elements that mirror the conditions in the second phase, when dogs receive 18 month formal training. At the retirement community, the puppies will be integrated into normal everyday resident activities and will be featured in special events focused on the puppies. Beginning at age eleven weeks, the puppies will also go out to local elementary schools, where classes will instruct students about the guide dog service and proper interaction with guide dogs. Students will also create their own reporting segments and follow the progress of the guide dogs via in class broadcasts on the schools' television feeds.
Volunteers also serve as brood and stud fosters for dogs in the GEB breeding colony. The school also manages an adoption program for dogs from their programs that are not considered suitable as guide dogs or have been retired from service.
The school also offers a program designed for blind and visually impaired students with additional developmental or physical challenges, such as deafness or seizure disorders. Dogs and staff are specifically selected and receive extra training to enable them to assist these students.
In 1999, GEB reported an annual budget of $8 million. That year the organization received a gift in kind of the five-story Manhattan town house on the Upper East Side
, worth $4.2 million, from Wanda Toscanini Horowitz — daughter of the conductor Arturo Toscanini
and widow of the pianist Vladimir Horowitz
.
According to Charity Navigator
, GEB had income of $19 million for fiscal year 2009/2010 and assets of $50 million. GEB is an accredited BBB
organization and has received a 54.57 rating, or three of four possible stars, at Charity Navigator
, not meeting criteria for transparency related to the process of determining compensation of the CEO and not meeting criteria for audited financials.
GEB's biggest fundraiser is an annual golf tournament which has been hosted for the past six years by Eli Manning
, quarterback for the New York Giants
. The tournament was founded by former professional golfer and golf broadcaster Ken Venturi
in 1977 and each year awards the Corcoran Cup, named after Fred Corcoran
.. GEB's founder, Don Kauth, had encouraged Richard “Dick” Ryan to start a golf tournament. Ryan, an attorney, was GEB's board chairman and represented Augusta National Golf Club
. Ryan agreed, naming the tournament after his business partner, Corcoran. The golf tournament, sponsored by Entergy
, Pepsi
and others, has raised over $7 million for GEB since its creation in 1977.
Since 2008, GEB has operated an e-storefront with Lands End via that company's Business Outfitters division. Initially, customers could order clothing embroidered with logo's associated with the dog breeds used by bred and trained by GEB in their work: yellow and black Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds. The artwork was produced by a company in Norwalk, Connecticut
, TFI/Envision.
In 2010, GEB initiated expansion of its canine development center from 16,000 square feet to 30,000sf in a three-phase $7.8 million construction project. The first phase included a whelping kennel and outdoor work area; the second face, projected for 2012 will include a breeding and puppy socialization kennel; and the third phase will include a 1,500-square foot veterinary hospital projected for 2012.
Guide dog
Guide dogs are assistance dogs trained to lead blind and visually impaired people around obstacles.Although the dogs can be trained to navigate various obstacles, they are partially color blind and are not capable of interpreting street signs...
s — dogs trained to lead the blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
and visually impaired
Visual impairment
Visual impairment is vision loss to such a degree as to qualify as an additional support need through a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive...
. With its 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) headquarters, training center and veterinary clinic in Yorktown Heights, New York
Yorktown Heights, New York
Yorktown Heights is a census-designated place in the town of Yorktown in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 1,781 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Yorktown Heights is located at ....
, GEB also operates a canine development center in Patterson, New York
Patterson, New York
Patterson is a town in Putnam County, New York, United States. The town is in the northeast part of the county. Interstate 84 passes through the southwest part of the town. The population was 11,306 at the 2000 census. The town is named after early farmer Matthew Paterson...
and a training site in White Plains, New York
White Plains, New York
White Plains is a city and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located in south-central Westchester, about east of the Hudson River and northwest of Long Island Sound...
.
The school was established in 1956 by Donald Z. Kauth in a 19th-century farmhouse and now includes a campus where GEB breeds and trains dogs for the visually impaired as well as a small number of the dogs trained to identify drugs and bombs for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The organization uses a three-stage process for training its guide dogs — first rearing the dogs in a controlled foster program that extends across the east coast of the United States, then formally training the dogs at the New York campus, and lastly bringing the visually impaired students to New York to co-train each guide dog with their new master. As of 2010, GEB had graduated over 7,300 guide dogs.
Three stage training
At the New York campus, GEB selects, breeds, and whelps dogs that have high potential to become guide dogs, primarily Labrador Retrievers (90% - 95%), along with fewer Golden Retrievers, Golden Retreiver/Labrador Retrievers mixes (Glabs) or German Shepherds. All of the dogs are ultimately spayed or neutered. In 1996, when the school reported a four month waiting list, each monthly class was set up not to exceed 12 students — with one class supervisor, and for every six students, an instructor and an assistant. The program and the dogs are the subject of the 1998 book Everyday Heroes: Extraordinary Dogs Among Us, by Sherry Bennett Warshauer.- First phase
The first phase of training, the rearing of puppies, is performed by volunteers through various programs. The organization places puppies for 16-18 months among 400 qualified volunteers along the East Coast. Volunteer puppy-raisers have a support network of evaluators and area coordinators. Evaluators visit the training homes at three month intervals, verifying the progress and health of the dogs, and foster homes receive the dog's veterinary care as well as major supplies.
- Second phase
Prior to entering the second phase, dogs are vetted for their confidence in new situations, their ability to ignore loud noises and distractions and their ability to make decisions under pressure. Tests include opening an umbrella in close proximity and firing a gun near the puppy in training. Dogs must successfully walk on a leash without pulling and navigate a food-filled obstacle course without stopping. Of the dogs raised, only half are ultimately suitable as guide dogs. Dogs that don't proceed in training are offered for adoption through another of GEB's programs.
In the second phase dogs are taught basic commands and specific skills: how to negotiate high and low obstacles, how to lead ahead of the guided individual rather than in a heel position and how to stop at curbs and stairs. Dogs are further taught to avoid food and ignore other dogs.
In 1995, a GEB trainer said "the cornerstone of guide-dog training is intelligent disobedience. A guide dog will follow its partner's orders to go forward up to a point, but it will put on the brakes if it sees a car bearing down on them. What makes them do that is their basic instinct for self-preservation." The program graduates about 170 dogs a year, with the dogs primarily trained for the visually impaired and dogs typically retiring after 8 to 10 years of guide work.
- Third phase
For the third phase of the program, blind or visually impaired students enroll in a 26-day class, offered year-round, in which they are paired and trained with their guide dog — at a cost of approximately $45,000 per student-dog team. There is no cost to the student. Students learn to get the most mobility and safety out from their teamwork with their dog, while increasing their confidence in the relationship.
Other programs
- Puppies Behind Bars
GEB has successfully used prison inmates to rear its dogs via the Puppies Behind Bars (PBB) program — a program where inmates at Fishkill Correctional Facility
Fishkill Correctional Facility
Fishkill Correctional Facility is a medium security prison in New York, USA. The prison is located in both the Town of Fishkill and the City of Beacon in Dutchess County.Fishkill was constructed in 1896...
, Bedford Hills Correctional Facility and other facilities complete the first phase of GEB's dog rearing program. The program was founded by Gloria Gilbert Stoga in 1997 (then serving on the Youth Empowerment Services Commission in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
) and is designed so inmates are responsible for the nurturing and rearing of the puppies around the clock, 24 hours a day.
The program began after Stoga researched and was turned down by guide dog schools. Schools as well as prisons were concerned that prisoners would abuse the puppies or train them to attack.
Stoga contracted with GEB to buy five dogs that could not pass the school's rigorous training. GEB eventually donated the same dogs, puppies that had been deemed unqualified to graduate to guide dog status. Ultimately those same dogs, reared with PBB, became qualified as accredited guide dogs.
In PBB, inmates are screened carefully, must have exemplary records and are assigned in pairs to each puppy — a primary and secondary caretaker. The teams live separate from the general population. In 2004, Smithsonian Magazine reported that GEB provided about 35 dogs annually to the program and that after seven years, GEB had expanded the program to six prisons at no cost to the participating states.
- Multi-generational fostering
A 2011 multi-generational volunteer dog foster program at Atlantic Shores http://www.atlanticshoresliving.com in Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...
, one of the first programs of its type in the nation, brings together qualified retirement community residents and elementary school students. The foster puppies will live with selected senior citizens in the Atlantic Shores retirement community, where the dogs will have early exposure to elevators, sidewalks, ramps, wheelchairs, and sliding doors — elements that mirror the conditions in the second phase, when dogs receive 18 month formal training. At the retirement community, the puppies will be integrated into normal everyday resident activities and will be featured in special events focused on the puppies. Beginning at age eleven weeks, the puppies will also go out to local elementary schools, where classes will instruct students about the guide dog service and proper interaction with guide dogs. Students will also create their own reporting segments and follow the progress of the guide dogs via in class broadcasts on the schools' television feeds.
- Other
Volunteers also serve as brood and stud fosters for dogs in the GEB breeding colony. The school also manages an adoption program for dogs from their programs that are not considered suitable as guide dogs or have been retired from service.
The school also offers a program designed for blind and visually impaired students with additional developmental or physical challenges, such as deafness or seizure disorders. Dogs and staff are specifically selected and receive extra training to enable them to assist these students.
Finances
GWB is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, funded via private donations. The school does not charge tuition, rather the dogs, training, students' room and board for 26 days and a follow-up support are provided at no cost to the student.In 1999, GEB reported an annual budget of $8 million. That year the organization received a gift in kind of the five-story Manhattan town house on the Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
, worth $4.2 million, from Wanda Toscanini Horowitz — daughter of the conductor Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
and widow of the pianist Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...
.
According to Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator is an independent, non-profit organization that evaluates American charities. Its stated goal is "to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of America's largest charities."-About:...
, GEB had income of $19 million for fiscal year 2009/2010 and assets of $50 million. GEB is an accredited BBB
Better Business Bureau
The Better Business Bureau , founded in 1912, is a corporation consisting of several private business franchises of local BBB organizations based in the United States and Canada, which work through their parent corporation, the Council of Better Business Bureaus .The Better Business Bureau, through...
organization and has received a 54.57 rating, or three of four possible stars, at Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator is an independent, non-profit organization that evaluates American charities. Its stated goal is "to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of America's largest charities."-About:...
, not meeting criteria for transparency related to the process of determining compensation of the CEO and not meeting criteria for audited financials.
GEB's biggest fundraiser is an annual golf tournament which has been hosted for the past six years by Eli Manning
Eli Manning
Eli Nelson Manning is an American football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He is the younger brother of NFL quarterback Peyton Manning and the son of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning...
, quarterback for the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. The tournament was founded by former professional golfer and golf broadcaster Ken Venturi
Ken Venturi
Kenneth Venturi is an American former professional golfer and golf broadcaster.-Early years and amateur career:Venturi was born in San Francisco, California. He learned golf from an early age, and developed his game at Harding Park Golf Course and other public courses in the area...
in 1977 and each year awards the Corcoran Cup, named after Fred Corcoran
Fred Corcoran
Fred Corcoran was an American sports promoter, agent, administrator and amateur golfer, who had a diverse career in the world of golf, baseball, boxing, ice hockey and other sports. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1975, as one of the first honorees who had not had a career in...
.. GEB's founder, Don Kauth, had encouraged Richard “Dick” Ryan to start a golf tournament. Ryan, an attorney, was GEB's board chairman and represented Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta National Golf Club, located in Augusta, Georgia, is a famous men's golf club. Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts and designed by Alister MacKenzie on the site of a former indigo plantation, the club opened for play in January 1933. Since 1934, it has played host to the annual...
. Ryan agreed, naming the tournament after his business partner, Corcoran. The golf tournament, sponsored by Entergy
Entergy
Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. It is headquartered in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana.-History:...
, Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
and others, has raised over $7 million for GEB since its creation in 1977.
Since 2008, GEB has operated an e-storefront with Lands End via that company's Business Outfitters division. Initially, customers could order clothing embroidered with logo's associated with the dog breeds used by bred and trained by GEB in their work: yellow and black Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds. The artwork was produced by a company in Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of the city is 85,603, making Norwalk sixth in population in Connecticut, and third in Fairfield County...
, TFI/Envision.
In 2010, GEB initiated expansion of its canine development center from 16,000 square feet to 30,000sf in a three-phase $7.8 million construction project. The first phase included a whelping kennel and outdoor work area; the second face, projected for 2012 will include a breeding and puppy socialization kennel; and the third phase will include a 1,500-square foot veterinary hospital projected for 2012.
See also
- Guide dogGuide dogGuide dogs are assistance dogs trained to lead blind and visually impaired people around obstacles.Although the dogs can be trained to navigate various obstacles, they are partially color blind and are not capable of interpreting street signs...
- Assistance dogAssistance dogAn assistance dog is a dog trained to aid or assist a person with a disability. Many are trained by a specific organization, while others are trained by their handler .-Classification:...
- BlindnessBlindnessBlindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
- Guide horseGuide horseA guide horse is an experimental mobility option for blind people who do not wish to or cannot use a guide dog. They are provided by The Guide Horse Foundation, founded in 1999 to provide miniature horses as assistance animals to blind users living in rural environments.There are several perceived...
- List of Guide Dog Schools
- Service dogService dogA service dog is a type of assistance dog specifically trained to help people who have disabilities including visual or hearing impairment, and also to help people with mental disabilities including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and severe depression...
- White caneWhite caneA white cane is used by many people who are blind or visually impaired, both as a mobility tool and as a courtesy to others. Not all modern white canes are designed to fulfill the same primary function, however: There are at least five varieties of this tool, each serving a slightly different...