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KNGF Geleidehonden (The Royal Dutch Guide Dog Foundation) has been training guide dogs for visually impaired people for more than 75 years. Established in 1935, the organisation has trained over 4,000 dogs for guide dog users in various parts of the Netherlands. Our organisation is an accredited member of the International Guide Dog Federation, which sets operational standards that its members must comply with. Also, the International Federation offers assistance to new guide dog schools.

 

KNGF Guide Dogs is the oldest, largest and best-known guide dog school in the Netherlands. It has a staff of more than 70 employees, 500 volunteers, 45,000 donors and several key sponsors.

 

Our instructors are trained internally over a period of approximately three years. They are not only taught how to train guide dogs but also how to instruct visually impaired people on working with their guide dogs. This means that our guide dog instructors have studied several disciplines such as orientation and mobility of visually impaired people, causes and consequences of the different eye diseases, psychology and first aid. It goes without saying that canine behaviour and training are an important part of the studies.

 

In the last 20 years, most of our dogs have originated from our own breeding programme. This programme has provided us with the best dogs for training as guide dogs. When it comes to both physical health and the required behaviour, these dogs are far more suitable than the dogs purchased from external dog breeders. We focus on a special mix of capabilities needed in dogs rather than concentrating on the external characteristics or the hunting/working attributes that pedigree dogs are bred for. Our dogs must be intelligent and active, and of a sweet, stable nature. Breeds commonly used are the Labrador and Golden Retriever, the German shepherd, and cross-breeds from these pedigree dogs.

 

To maintain and improve the outstanding quality of our dogs, we have been working closely with the University of Utrecht and foreign guide dog schools to research the best breeding methods and to breed dogs from special guide dog bloodlines.

 

We have also established a close working relationship with the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Utrecht to provide our pregnant bitches, their pups and the dogs in training with the best medical care. All dogs are screened for hereditary diseases like hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia and several eye diseases.

 

All our puppies are bred for the purpose of being trained as guide dogs. 25 to 30 brood bitches supply us with the necessary number of pups. Every year KNGF Guide Dogs breed approximately 150 puppies. All puppies are born in so-called “brood bitch families” that take care of the brood bitch and their litter. At the age of 7 to 8 weeks, the pups leave their mother and siblings to explore the world.

The puppies spend their first year with carefully selected puppy walkers. These are volunteers who feed, socialize and generally look after the dogs and offer them a carefree childhood. During this period a solid foundation is created for their future training as a guide dog. In this first year it is of vital importance that the young dogs are exposed to as many different experiences as possible. They have to get used to different kinds of people, children and animals, but also to busy shops, railway stations and noisy traffic. KNGF Guide Dogs carefully monitors the development of the puppies during this stage of life. All puppy walking families are frequently visited by representatives of the breeding department. At the age of approximately 14 months and when deemed suitable physically and personality-wise, the dogs return to the guide dog school and are taken into training.

 

The young dogs are trained by experienced guide dog trainers in about six to eight months at the guide dog school in Amstelveen. They are taught to avoid obstacles and indicate orientation points like pavements and side streets. They also learn to indicate many other things, such as a pedestrian crossing, a mailbox, doors, the staircase or an empty seat. What makes a guide dog so special as opposed to other assistance dogs is that they act upon their own initiative. They have to decide for themselves whether a certain route is safe or even possible for their owners to take. If coming across e.g. a roadblock, the dog will refuse the command ‘forward’ and will decide on an alternative route. He will do this even if the command to go ‘forward’ is given quite forcefully.

In order to avoid obstacles, the dog is taught to take into account one metre of space horizontally and two metres of space vertically. This space allows both the guide dog user and the dog to walk safely by or underneath any obstacle.

Once a dog has mastered all the skills a reliable guide dog needs, the final training can be completed. This comprises all skills the dog will need in order to work adequately with a specific user. If, e.g. the new user lives in the city, extra attention will be paid to public transport and complicated crossings. When living in the country, the guide dog will spend extra time practising how to guide on roads without a footpath.

Specialists ensure that the specific needs of deaf blind people as well as people with other multiple handicaps can be met where possible. Not every person with multiple handicaps can be supplied with a guide dog, due to the severity of their handicaps. KNGF Guide Dogs will, however, always try their hardest to supply as many visually impaired people as possible with a suitable guide dog.

 

A good match between a dog and its potential user is crucial. After all, they have to work together as a team for many years to come. A lot of attention is paid to making the best combination of dog and owner in terms of characteristics like personality, needs, activity levels, and gait.

 

The novice guide dog user is taught how to work with the guide dog during a two-week training period, tailor-made to suit his or her specific needs and wishes, under the guidance of a trained instructor.

Upon completion of the training period, the dog and its new owner go home. There the dog is trained to cope with the home environment with the assistance of a guide dog instructor. Of course, it doesn’t end there. Every guide dog user can count on after-care and 24-hour support from KNGF Guide Dogs.

 

We believe that good training and support are a long-term goal. Our after-care includes home visits and a special helpdesk where all questions are answered by expert personnel.

Experience proves that almost every guide dog user wants a new dog after his/her dog has retired. Continuity is, therefore, of the utmost importance to our organisation. We have made a commitment to our clients that there will always be a guide dog available for them, now and in the future.