A parent taking their child for a walk to the shops to buy an ice-cream sounds like a run of the mill family outing. But it’s one that for many years escaped a visually impaired mother – until she became the recipient of a seeing eye dog.
‘Having a seeing eye dog gave that mother the confidence to take her daughter out on her own to get an ice-cream – something she never would have done before,’ Petbarn Foundation manager Janelle Miller told FEMAIL.
‘I’ve seen over and over how beneficial a seeing eye dog is not only for helping someone navigate the world physically, but also mentally how much it impacts on that person’s confidence and wellbeing.’
It’s the reason why the Petbarn Foundation have for 12 years straight run their annual Seeing Eye Dogs Vision Australia appeal.
The fundraising target for 2025 is to raise $1.1million in donations, which will go towards training up 22 seeing eye dog pups. You can donate HERE.
At $50,000 per pup, it’s a huge investment. But it’s indisputably worthwhile for the potentially lifechanging benefit it provides to a person who is visually impaired.
Janelle proudly explains that the Pet Barn Foundation’s efforts in supporting Seeing Eye Dogs Vision Australia had so far seen them fund the training of 179 dogs – and if they reach this year’s goal, they will ‘surpass our 200th dog’.
‘That’s 200 people, who’s lives will be changed by these dogs,’ she explained.
The latest litter of eight-week old Labradors from Seeing Eye Dogs Vision Australia visited the Daily Mail Australia offices
Wearing their official training vests, the Seeing Eye Dogs puppies had already had a big day out riding a ferry before stopping by to say hello to Daily Mail Australia staffers
Kim Rulach, head trainer from Seeing Eye Dogs Vision Australia, explained to FEMAIL that training the potential service dogs is no “walk in the park”.
The puppies are ‘purpose bred’ by the organisation – and are either labradors, golden retrievers, or a cross between the two.
‘In our program, when the puppies are eight weeks old they’ll go out to a volunteer puppy carer. The carer is responsible for socialising them and doing basic obedience training and teaching them nice house manners, and they’ll have them for about a year.’
‘Then, if they are selected for formal training, we bring the one year old dogs back to our centre, and we do a 20 week training program,’ Kim said.
All of the costs involved in this process – from vet bills to dog food is provided by the organisation.
Without these essential funds, the organisation and program simply cannot exist – which is why Pet Barn Foundation continues to annually support this crucial initiative.
‘All we need from our volunteers is the commitment of time,’ Kim added.
The intensive training program sees the dogs go through a series of major assessments, concluding with one final major test.
These ten-week old Labradors are seeing eye dogs in-training
The puppies visit to the Daily Mail Australia office was organised by the Pet Barn Foundation to promote their current Seeing Eye Dogs Vision Australia fundraiser. Their aim is to raise $1.1M in donations, which will go towards training up 22 seeing eye dog pups
‘They do a final walk test with the person who’s been training them – and they’re not allowed to make any mistakes on their route,’ Kim said. ‘They have to be able to do it on their own with minimal cues.’
Kim says the bench mark is high – but necessarily so.
‘What these dogs do is so important and it’s putting someone’s safety in danger if they’re not up to scratch.’
The high performing dogs that pass the test are then matched with a suited visually impaired person, empowering them to move independently in public without the need for a cane.
But even those dogs that don’t quite meet the high criteria necessary to become a seeing eye dog still go on to serve important roles within the community.
‘We filter a lot of our dogs to other service agencies that don’t have just their own breeding programs – they can help with things like PTSD or autism, or they can be medical alert dogs,’ Kim explained. ‘So we are able to give these dogs to other agencies so they can use them in their programs.’
Even those that flunk out of puppy training all together end up with a charmed life as ‘wonderful family pets’.
Vision Australia Seeing Eye Dogs is also always searching for big-hearted community members to volunteer as puppy carers.
As well as being given all the necessary financial support, the trainers are highly involved with the carers to ensure all aspects of the pup’s training remain on track.
However Kim notes that the toughest part of being a carer volunteer is the ability to ‘give the dog back to us at the end of the process’.
‘It’s really emotional and our volunteers do get really attached to them,’ she said.
‘But the cause is what makes it worthwhile. Our volunteers know that by raising and training these pups, what they’ve done is help someone else gain their independence.’
‘And usually our volunteer carers will eventually come back to train another puppy!’
CLICK HERE to make a donation to the Petbarn Foundation 12th Annual Seeing Eye Dogs Appeal
