It is time for guide dog owners to help lead the organisation that breeds and trains their dogs.
The service that The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (Guide Dogs) currently offers is lagging behind the needs of guide dog owners. We want to campaign for change within Guide Dogs so that it can improve its service of training guide dogs of the highest quality.
The ‘Owners Take the Lead’ campaign has been founded in despair at the direction that the Guide Dogs management had been taking during the last twenty years, culminating in its profoundly misguided response to COVID-19. There have been too many rebrands, and strategies that guide dog owners can’t identify with. There has been mission creep with Guide Dogs moving into areas best left to the sight loss charities founded specifically to provide these services. After 90 years it is time for guide dog owners to lead the organisation that breeds and trains their dogs.
We are an independent group that has been set up to lobby for change within Guide Dogs. We are not affiliated with Guide Dogs in any way. Instead, we are urging guide dog owners to join Guide Dogs so that you can make your voice heard and make your opinion count at their AGM.
Information and ways that you can start change today:
Guide Dogs:
Thoughts and Figures
Is Guide Dogs running a closed shop? Thoughts and figures for the Guide Dogs’ national operation.
Knock-On Effects of Covid-19 on Guide Dogs
How the pandemic halted Guide Dogs’ breeding programme, and the effects of their response.
Owners Take The Lead. Why Us, Why Now?
An overview of guide dogs, a bit about us, and why we are encouraging people to take action now.
Don’t Forget To Spread The Word!
Tell guide dog owners about our important campaign, and mention us in your social media posts.
“Guide dog delays are like ‘losing eyesight’ all over again”
An owner who was advised that she might have to wait years for a new guide dog
what do we want to achieve BY WORKING WITH GUIDE DOGS?
Our aim is an organisation focused on the best of its past and the current needs of visually impaired people who have a guide dog, are on waiting lists for a dog or could benefit from having a guide dog.
The past two years has been difficult and visually impaired people need the support of Guide Dogs more than ever. Those of us who are on lengthy waiting lists want facts and figures so we can assess the wait for ourselves. We want all the effort and resources of Guide Dogs directed towards breeding and training guide dogs at least until the current crisis caused by poor decision making during the pandemic is addressed. We need to learn to live with coronavirus and this means understanding how things have changed for visually impaired people especially guide dog owners and their dogs. Guide Dogs, training and the delivery of services need to adapt very quickly to the new norm as things are never going to return to normal.
