In early 2018, Jean M traveled to Rochester Hills, Michigan to obtain a new guide dog from Leader Dogs for the Blind. At the time, she wrote a series of Facebook posts about her experiences, providing information for her friends and neighbours about what is involved in getting a guide dog. Her posts were popular around her community.

Unfortunately, that dog didn’t work out for Jean. The dog was returned to the school and is now happily and successfully working for someone else in a different community. In February 2019, she made another trip to Michigan to get a new dog.

Jean is now back home, going through the new-dog experience once more. Several people have expressed an interest in reading her 2018 posts again. Some new-comers to Jean’s community and some new readers of the Canadian Guide Dogs blog want to know more about the guide dog school experience, some of the issues related to having a guide dog, and what sighted people should expect when encountering a new user / guide dog team. So, in response to this popular demand, Canadian Guide Dog is proud to welcome Jean as a guest blogger, and we are re-posting her 2018 articles (edited for privacy and context).

Enjoy reading about her journey at the following link:

A Trip to Leader Dogs for the Blind