Guide Dogs In Training Take Field Trip To Old Sacramento

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — There was a lot of cuteness in Old Sacramento Saturday as dozens of guide dogs in training roamed about.

Kathy Harwell is a leader for Elk Grove Puppies with Vision. Harwell explained why the field trip was important for the puppies.

"[We] have the puppies experience heavy traffic situations and large crowds. They also have different surfaces wood walkways and gravel," Harwell said.

Volunteers who help raise the dogs and train them to be seeing eye dogs accompanied the puppies on the field trip.

"We raise the puppies from the time they are 8 weeks old to 16 months old and train them to be social and basic commands and they go back to guide dogs for formal training," Harwell said.

Without these guide dogs, many visually impaired people would have to use other means to get around outside their homes.

"It brings them out into the community more because people approach them more because dogs can bring people in," said Gail Horn, a community field representative for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Several of the dogs graduated today and will now be paired with a visually impaired person.