The WAGATHON is a cumulative marathon that you and your dog can do anywhere, at your own pace throughout the month of September. The goal is to hit 26.2 miles by September 30th – all while raising critical funds to support Guiding Eyes for the Blind’s mission to provide guide dogs to people with vision loss.

Kodie and I love being outside hiking on trails, wading through rivers and greeting other pups in the neighborhood. It's such a blessing to be mobile, to have the freedom to explore and to enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors.

Not everyone has that opportunity. For those who are visually impaired life can be dark, lonely and intimidating. Highly trained dogs, bred for temperament and skill, have the incredible ability to change all that.

GEB depends entirely upon donors like us to be able to do the work that they do. They receive no government subsidies and they never charge recipients for their guide dogs. They have mastered every part of creating enabling dogs for the blind. That starts with exceptional breeding and cutting-edge birthing programs that develop the greatest dogs bred for their intelligence and other key traits (such as the first breeding Labradors that do not have hip dysplasia). GEB dogs are used throughout the world for breeding. Many of their dogs that do not serve as Guides are used as arson dogs (sniff for accelerants), bomb squad dogs, or in their “Healing Autism” program. And a few dropouts (they call them “releases”) thankfully end up in homes where they can live out their best lives.

Their puppy raising starts from the day of birth. Mobiles are placed above their crates to get them used to looking up (no doubt why GEB dogs make for such exceptional frisbee catchers). After 12 weeks of training, they are placed with a “puppy raiser family” who have training protocols and evaluations. After a year, the puppies come back to GEB where they go through another year of training prior to being matched with their blind handler. Unlike other trained dogs, Guide Dogs require a level of critical thinking to know when to refuse a command. (For example, if the handler gives the command to go, but the dog knows a hazard has not been identified, such as a low branch the dog can pass under, they will insist the handler identify the problem prior to proceeding). These dogs are truly amazing.

After two years, and over $50,000 invested, GEB expertly matches the dog’s personality with the right person, and then they train at their school, together, for a month, as handler and guide, to be independent and successful. The process is completed with an emotional graduation ceremony with the new handler’s family, trainers, puppy raisers, and other GEB staff. All of this, including a month or more in their dorms are at no expense to the recipient or to their family.

For these reasons and more are why I support Guiding Eyes for the Blind and I hope you will too!

Thank you for your support,
-Jenn and Kodie