Customized In-Home Guide Dog Training for the Visually Impaired

Since OccuPaws is a volunteer-driven association, we are always in need of people’s time, knowledge, and experience!  Some ways of helping us are obvious, such as raising a puppy or serving on the Board of Directors, but we need many different skills:  – YOU DO NOT NEED TO ATTEND PUPPY TRAINING CLASSES TO BECOME A NON-RAISER VOLUNTEER.

  • We need lots of volunteers to help with our fund-raising events and efforts.  We receive no government or insurance company funding, but rely on individual and corporate donors, grants, and fund-raisers.  Would you like to help organize one?  Or even just help the day of the event?
  • Perhaps, your skills are more administrative (such as writing thank you notes, input into and maintaining databases, making phone calls, sending out flyers, etc.)  We can certainly use help in those areas.
  • Are your people skills and interviewing talents such that you could help by doing home visits for prospective puppy raisers/sitters?
  • Are you technology literate?  Maybe you would like to help with our email newsletter: development, maintenance, or distribution. We also need help in supporting segments of our website, Facebook page, or our Blog.  We can use you!
  • Maybe your interest still lies with the dogs, but a full time month commitment is just not possible.  Consider being an OccuPaws puppy sitter on weekends or vacations.  Just a day or a week or a weekend: You decide.  Contact our Puppy Sitter Coordinator and ask what is involved or fill out our online Puppy Sitter Application.
  • Are you at ease in front of large groups/public speaking?  How about working with some of our board members on Community Outreach (such as educating elementary kids on kindness to animals, importance of guide dog etiquette, etc.)
  • You could contact businesses for In-Kind donations for raffles and Silent Auctions.
  • If written communication skills far exceed your public speaking desires – Help us write grants.

The Perfect Experience

A Unique Guide Dog Training Experience with OccuPaws

OccuPaws provides a distinctive and personalized training experience for our clients. Unlike traditional programs, all placement training is conducted in the comfort of the client’s home. This approach ensures that blind individuals can remain with their families, maintain their jobs, and continue their daily lives while learning to use one of the most remarkable mobility tools available—a guide dog. In some cases, family members may also participate in the training, fostering a supportive environment for the guide dog’s integration into the household.

— Our Approach

From Puppy to Guide Dog

OccuPaws’ puppies undergo a rigorous process to become guide dogs. After earning their Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certification, passing comprehensive health screenings, and graduating from the Community Puppy Program, they enter Formal Harness Training—a three to four-month intensive training phase. During this period, aspiring guide dogs live with our Guide Dog Mobility Instructors and receive one-on-one training daily.

In Formal Harness Training, dogs master essential guide dog mechanics, such as avoiding obstacles, identifying elevation changes, and respecting traffic. Our innovative “targeting” method teaches dogs to locate objects like escalators, elevators, stairs, empty chairs, counters, and more. These skills are vital for enhancing the independence and mobility of their future handlers.

The Perfect Match

Matching the right guide dog with the right client is both an art and a science. Our application process and mobility screenings allow us to consider lifestyle, activity level, walking speed, personality, and more when creating a working team. Once paired, the placement training begins.

OccuPaws’ “in-community” placement program typically lasts two to three weeks, depending on the client’s individual needs, abilities, and experience. During this time, clients learn to navigate various environments—rural, residential, urban, and metropolitan—while mastering guide dog mechanics, public transportation use, problem-solving, and service dog access and etiquette.

Lifelong support

OccuPaws is committed to supporting our guide dog teams throughout their working lives. We offer ongoing technical support and follow-up services whenever needed, ensuring each team’s long-term success. Our small size allows us to provide unmatched, personalized care to every client.

If you’re interested in applying for an OccuPaws Guide Dog, please complete the Student Application below. For questions about the Formal Harness Training program, contact us—we’re happy to assist!

Questions? Please ask

We serve clients who:

  • Possess the physical, mental, and emotional capability required to train with a guide dog.
  • Clients must have a medically substantiated visual impairment, at minimum. Their loss of vision must be sufficient to not interfere with the safety and effectiveness of a guide dog, and their hearing must enable them to make decisions in the best interest of the team.
  • Are legally blind – the SSA defines legal blindness (also called statutory blindness) as best corrected visual acuity of 20/200 or worse in the better eye; or a visual field limitation such that the widest diameter of the visual field, in the better eye, is 20 degrees or less.
  • Are able to travel independently with a white cane or other mobility aid.
  • Are able to provide a service/guide dog with a safe living and working environment.
  • Live in the state of Wisconsin or in surrounding states.
  • Wish to be trained with their service/guide dog in their home environment.
  • Have the necessary maturity and willingness to learn the skills necessary to work with and care for a service/guide dog.
  • Are willing to abide by OccuPaws’ user contracts and other regulations.
  • Recognize the benefits a guide dog provides, and wish to experience them first hand.
  • Have a realistic plan of use for a guide dog.
  • Have a sufficient workload or places to go each week to keep a dog’s skills at the peak of training.

OccuPaws does not train or provide dogs to help with:

  • Diabetic episode alert
  • Seizure Alert
  • Mobility Assistance
  • Hearing Alert
  • Therapy Dogs
  • Autism  support
  • Emotional Support
  • Post-traumatic stress dogs