Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind
Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind (CGDB) is a registered charitable organization founded in 1984. CGDB operates solely through donations. Their fundraising is a combination of individual and corporate donations, plus fundraising initiatives and events. Jane Thornton and Bill Thornton started Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind. The organization has progressed from its humble beginnings in a small, rented home to the current state of the art Training Centre. The National Training Centre was opened in Manotick Ontario in 1988. Since then they have graduated over 900 guide dog teams.
Guide dogs are trained as puppies from 7 weeks of age and after they are ‘socialized’ with foster families and are between 12 to 18 months of age they are brought to the Training Centre to begin five to eight months of professional training. The dog and its new handler are then matched and are trained together, in residence, as a team.
Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind offers Guide Dog training as well as transportation to and from the Training Centre, room and board while the client is on class, for the symbolic cost of $1. The client is responsible for the care, feeding and veterinary costs of their Guide Dog after they graduate.
PR-TY as Pye & Richards Architects Inc. in 1986 designed the original guide dog training centre in Manotick. In 1990 a new Kennel block was added. This facility served their needs for over two decades and in 2012 we were commissioned to do an expansion study which culminated in a new short term accommodation residence for users and their family who are learning how to work with guide dogs as well as a state of the art Kennel facility. Design on the new facility commenced in 2017 with a construction contract awarded in June 2018 and both the new residence and the kennel were completed in October 2019.
The new building occupies a central location on the site and is connected via an enclosed glazed link to the existing Administration Building which will be renovated to provide additional office and storage space. The Residential Wing provides new and enhanced accommodation for clients who are learning to work with guide dogs. The rooms are designed to be large enough to accommodate an additional family member so they can work together and assist them with adapting to living with and using a guide dog. A lounge and dining area is provided for the residents use. 10 Residential suites have been provided in addition to a two bedroom apartment for a resident supervisor. The existing Kennel building was re-purposed to accommodate short-term dog boarding and storage. The new Kennel Building will house the same number of dogs as the previous kennel in a modernized state of the art facility.