About Us

Our mission is to place fully trained guide dogs of excellent health and temperament with Midwest adult residents who have visual impairments at no charge.

The OccuPaws Guide Dog Association, Wisconsin’s only fully accredited school by both the International Guide Dog Federation and  Assistance Dogs International, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, charitable organization based out of Madison, WI. OccuPaws is an innovative, creative, and life-changing organization dedicated to empowering the visually impaired while raising awareness and education for adults.

Our Guide Dog mobility custom training sessions take place in the comfort of the client’s home environment as opposed to a guide dog academy. We do this because we believe that legitimate personal circumstances (family obligations, professional commitments or secondary health conditions) should not prevent an otherwise capable individual with a qualifying visual impairment from enjoying the companionship and assistance a canine guide can offer. Each completely trained dog and person is carefully matched according to such traits as lifestyle, personality, activity level, and walking speed.

In addition to harness work and obedience commands, our Guide Dog Mobility Instructor teaches each client about the learning style of their particular guide dog, about various aspects of canine behavior, and about the innate characteristics of their guide dog’s breed. By the end of each custom in-home placement, the client will have learned how to teach their guide dog new skills and how to work with and care for their canine visual partner throughout the entirety of its’ career.