District Cabinet Meeting - Sunday, August 5, 2018
D1 Leader Dog Report
The First Vice District Governors from MD27 have been invited to the Leader Dog campus on Saturday, August 11 to experience a full day of learning about Leader Dog and programs offered to blind and visually impaired clients. They will travel to Detroit on Friday, August 10, spend Saturday on campus and return home on Sunday, August 12, 2018.
There are 50 active graduates in Wisconsin representing an investment of $2,084,000 by Leader Dog into MD27. Seven Clients received Leader Dogs last fiscal yyear. Historically MD27 has received 516 graduates with Leader Dogs. 44 blind and visually impaired clients have graduated in the Orientation and Mobility (cane travel) program. Ten blind and visually impaired 16/17 teens have attended the SUMMER EXPERIENCE Camp held on the LD Campus, one this summer. At present, LD has 29 males and 59 female Labradors, Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds in the breeding stock program. There are 14 puppy raisers within the State of Wisconsin.
Leader Dog continues to improve training techniques, class situations and enhance skills to better accommodate the needs of “today's” clients. Since 2013 Leader Dog has conducted “URBAN ENVIRONMENT” training classes in Chicago designed for people who live, work or travel in large city environments. In February of each year, Leader Dog provides a “WARM WEATHER” training class in Florida for people who will never work in areas like Michigan winters. Leader Dog was the first guide dog school to design a program to train dogs specifically to guide clients who are both deaf and blind. There are instructors on staff who are fluent in American Sign Language (ASL) needed in hand-to-hand communications with clients in this program. Home deliveries are a great option for some clients who have other commitments such as families, jobs, medical conditions or special home circumstances that prevent them from participating in a 25-day training class on Leader Dog campus. Instructors try to make two or three home deliveries from each class. This involves an instructor taking a carefully selected trained Leader Dog to the home of the client, staying at a near-by hotel and working with the new team daily for as long as is necessary to accomplish graduation as a certified working team. If you need a program or information about Leader Dog feel free to contact me, Lion Eric Holthaus at (608) 317-4238 or ericholthaus@yahoo.com.