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S6E60 – Empowering Independence: Inside Leader Dogs for the Blind

S6E60 – Empowering Independence: Inside Leader Dogs for the Blind

AI Auto Podcast Oct 22, 2025 17 min
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About this episode

Exploring the inspiring work of Leader Dogs for the Blind, this episode features Cristina Hepner, who shares insights into the organization's mission to provide guide dogs and training services at no cost. The discussion covers the rigorous training process for both dogs and their human partners, the importance of proper etiquette around service dogs, and the challenges faced by clients in accessing services like rideshare. Listeners will gain a deeper understanding of the dedication and community support that drives this impactful nonprofit.

Topics: guide dogs puppy training service dog etiquette nonprofit funding client services orientation mobility community support dog breeding advocacy for rights
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Welcome to the Total Car Score Podcast, bringing you the world of cars from inside the car.
And now your hosts, Carl Brower, Lauren Fix and Javier Mota.
Well, today we're not inside a car, we're inside-
We're at Leader Dogs for the Blind.
And we're with Cristina Hepner and you are the-
This is the coolest story I think I'm going to do all this year, or maybe many years,
because I usually cover cars, but I love dogs. And we're here because this organization provides
dogs for people who need them as guide dogs, right?
Yeah, so we provide multiple services as well. So not only guide dogs, but that long white
cane training we do as well for people who are blind or low vision. And we provide all of our
services free of cost. We get no government funding, no insurance payments. It's just from
the generosity of donors who keep us going, because we want to make sure that everyone
can be served, no matter their income, no matter their age, all of that. So we want to make sure-
I was learning a little bit, reading about it before I came here. And you said that white
cane training, and I said like, why would people need training if they already
lost their vision? But like that can happen suddenly too, right? And that's why people
will need that training immediately. Yeah, so they actually need that orientation. It's called
orientation mobility is the actual term for that long white cane training. And they need that actually
as a prerequisite to get a guide dog. They have to know their surroundings. They need to know
where they're going, how to get there, because the dog actually does not know directions.
It is up to their human guide to tell them they need to go right, go left, how many,
where the location is. Now they can direct their dog and teach their dog different locations
and that sort of stuff, but they don't actually know that. But it's amazing. I mean, the whole
process is amazing. So here we're standing in front of what you call the training room or something.
So this is our puppy observation window. So these are puppies that are here for two weeks on campus
before they go with a puppy raiser. So a puppy raiser is a volunteer who raises one of our puppies
from those six, seven weeks all the way up to 12 to 14 months. The first year of their lives,
they are raising them. They teach them those basic obedience skills. So the puppies, when they're
here on campus, they're here getting their vaccines, getting checkups and getting ready
to go with a volunteer raiser. Now these puppies that are here, they came from a breeding house.
So those are also volunteers who host our breeding dogs. So we breed our dogs here on campus. And
so these puppies just got returned after being at home with their breeding house. And so they're
getting those checks up. And these ones, I'm not a true expert, but are those who are labs or golden
retrievers? Yeah, so we have only Labrador golden retrievers and mixes of lab and golden. So these
ones look to be Labrador retrievers. And that's because of the temperament of the dogs. Yeah,
and these dogs are very treat motivated. We do treat training with the dogs. And so they're
treat motivated. They're very adaptable. These Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers can
go through multiple handlers because they go from with their breeding hosts when they're born
to a volunteer puppy raiser to their guide dog mobility instructor to a client. So they don't
get that sentimentally attached to the person they're dealing with. They do. So they build those
relationships with that person, but it takes about six months to really become a good working team
with the dogs, because the dog's learning the person and the person is learning the dog.
So you said these were like from a breeder that specialized in this kind of... So we have volunteers
who host our breeding dogs. We do all of the breeding here on campus. Oh, wow. We have a vet team,
and on our vet team is ethereogenologist. So she specializes in breeding. And so she oversees our
breeding colony of dogs. We just have people who host them. They'll welp the dog, so have those puppies
in their home, and then keep those letters for the first seven weeks until they come back here on
campus. So once they're here, they're here for what a couple months? Two weeks. About two weeks. So
these puppies will be here for about one to two weeks, depending. And then they each puppy will
be paired with a volunteer puppy raiser. So someone who will raise that puppy for that first year of
life, taking those basic obedience skills. So we have people who do it just themselves. They have
people that do it with their family. You can do it with a friend. We have people that will do the
first six months with a puppy, and then other people who will do the last six months. So a lot
of different opportunities to volunteer and help raise a guide dog for us. So there are a few people
might be familiar with the documentary. I think it's literally out of the pack. I don't know if you
you know about it. So it's like an institution like this, but I think it's in California. Okay.
And they follow a family, a leader of puppies. I think there's seven of them. And they start like
going through this process. And then at the end, most of them don't make it. So which is kind of sad
because I mean, you see that the dogs are trying too, because they want to learn right and serve.
So that's a personality. Yeah. So we do have dogs at our career change, because the dogs have become
a guide dog. We call them basically they have to be the Navy Seal of dogs. They have to want to do
the work. We're asking a dog to do not dog things. So we're asking them to settle under a table. We're
asking them to be relaxed to ignore all the distractions. So it is it can be a challenging
thing for a dog. And we want the dogs to want to do the job. We have a lot of dogs that are very
motivated and want to work. But then we have some dogs that are like, you know what, working life
isn't playful. Yeah. Not like humans. I think speaking of humans, when we see them, I mean,
we see these dogs, service dogs all over the place. And maybe even a lot more recently,
there's a trend like people get like some claim to be like not very legitimate service dog licenses.
But I mean, when you see a guide dog, like that's completely me completely legitimate. So
but still me and many other people want to pet them want to play them like what shouldn't we do?
What's the correct etiquette for that interaction or not interaction? Yeah. So the correct etiquette
when you meet someone who is vulnerable vision who has a guide dog is to talk to the person.
Ignore the dog. The dog probably is wearing a harness. When the dog has that harness on,
they are working. They're not to be distracted because it could be a safety issue to that person.
If they're walking down the street and that dog somehow someone puts food in front of them or
tries to pet the dog. And then now that they veer the person somewhere and that person falls,
it could be a really bad safety issue as well. So always talk to the person if you're curious
about what their guide dog is doing or how the guide dog works and how they work as a team.
Talk to the person. Yeah. Most of the time. Ask for mention first. Yeah. And you know,
these dogs should not be pet because they are working and always talk to the person and ask,
but never pet the dog. The other question because I'm more in automotive and all that kind of thing.
What a driver should do? What should be the reaction with someone on the street with a
guide dog? Yeah. So drivers typically just drive how you normally drive because sometimes we'll
see that people will stop and try and wave someone by. Well, sometimes those people because of their
vision and where they can see can't see the person trying to wave them by or that sort of stuff.
So they rely on listening so they can hear most of the time a car stop and then that car go. So
they are orientation and mobility. So we're coming back to that. Yeah. As well is they're
listening to where they're at in the space and listening to the cars driving by and these dogs
are taught basic obedience. So if the person were to tell the dog to go and there was a car driving
by that dog would stop and would not put them in harm's way. So that is just drive how you normally
would drive. Very respectful, right? It doesn't matter if it's just like a guide dog or anybody
else. You have to do that. There's another issue involving cars I think and in this case over a
lift like some drivers. I've seen it not with guide dogs but with a support dog. I was at a
friend's house at a dinner and this guy's retired military guy and he had a support dog and when
he asked for his Uber to come to go back home the Uber wouldn't take him. So yeah so what's the deal
there? Yeah so that is a big issue that a lot of our clients are facing and then something that
we're advocating for along with other guide dog organizations is that Uber on lift sometimes
these drivers will just leave people. They don't know it. They don't know that they're not coming
or they'll see that they have a dog with them and just drive by and that could leave someone stranded
because people who are blind or low vision can't necessarily see if the car is coming up or if
the car is leaving and so that can cause a huge issue for them and for their safety and the safety
of the dog. Service dogs are allowed to be in a car and so that is an issue. There's legislation
that is you know we're constantly talking about and we're constantly advocating for with Uber on lift.
So let's go back to the process. So the dogs get here from the the specialized breeder or maybe
some other. So the dogs are bred here on campus. Oh I'm sorry yeah and then they say with a volunteer
host. Okay and then what happens so like this one we see here I'm saying they're like 12 weeks old
maybe this one. Yeah they're about seven to eight weeks old right now. Okay yep and what what happens
next. Yeah so after you know seven to eight weeks they're here on campus for that one to two weeks
they're getting their you know first puppy shots their vaccinations. Our vet team is checking out
the puppies to make sure that they're healthy and well and ready to go to a volunteer puppy
raiser. So then that volunteer puppy raiser will come after they're here for two weeks and ready to
go out with a volunteer puppy raiser. They'll be with that volunteer puppy raiser for about a year
to 14 months and that puppy raiser is a part of a group. So they'll be going to puppy classes
learning basic obedience skills and so that puppy raiser is really just there to get them
acclimated to those basic obedience skills and they are allowed to take them to different places.
So in the state of Michigan puppy raisers are able to take them into stores like Target and
Walmart and those big stores. More businesses are allowing more dogs. I have seen that trend in
general right. Yeah and so they're a service dog and training and so there is a law in the state
of Michigan that does allow them to go into establishments to train dogs. So when does the
person who needs the guide dog comes here into place and start doing already the training with
the actual dog that they're going to receive. So the dogs come back about that 14 month mark
then they're paired with a guide dog mobility instructor. So that's an instructor who is training
that dog to actually become a guide dog. So that dog is in about here for about four months of that
formal training is what we call it and so that formal training is where they're learning their
skills to be matched with the client. So the dog is matched with the client about 18 months and older
and so our guide dog mobility instructors will look at a client's application. They get a video
from them. They learn about how they walk in their gate and all of those different things about them
and they're able to match a dog who maybe walks really fast with the client who walks fast or slow
with the client who walks slower. They live in a city and this dog is going to do well in a city
or they live in a rural area and this dog is a slower dog that would enjoy living out in the
country. So many different things. Yeah there's so many different things and so then our clients
who are matched with the dog will get a call and get on a schedule to come to class and so then
they're paired with that dog at about 18 months or a little bit older.
And so now let's talk about like the people who actually need a dog and what's the process for
them to get them because this is a completely non-profit organization and how does that work?
Yeah so basically our clients have to be 16 years or older to be on our campus.
Yes and so to be paired with a guide dog we typically pair our services I say in general
sort at 16 and older and so to be paired with a guide dog they'll fill out an application
and they'll go through an application process so they'll send a video of themselves
with their orientation and mobility skills using their long white cane. They'll fill out an
application. They'll have some calls with our client services team who are there to answer
any questions for them and we have people who come back for guide dogs and have had seven
or eight guide dogs from us because we don't limit the amount as long as you need our services.
As long as we do. Yeah and so a working dog is about eight to ten years old is when they
kind of stop working and they retire because the working life it can be a little more stressful
than you know an average dog and so they will retire at some point in that phase but we are
always serving our clients you know no matter what stage it is. And this organization works
internationally I mean like you don't have to be a Michigan resident or a U.S. resident even I
understand like you do. Yeah so we serve people in Canada and Mexico and then we every so often
have an American clients come in with a guide dog organization that we partner with in Spain.
Oh I see okay and this is for the clients people who need it like completely free. Completely free
we fly you in all your meals are provided by our kitchen staff we have a state of the art
kitchen staff and you stay here on campus for those three weeks and so everything's completely free
to you because of the generosity of our donors. Exactly so tell about that how people can help
because that's the important part of the of this organization I mean you you need funds this is not
a yeah it's not a cheap thing to operate. Yeah so if people want to you know donate to our cause
if you were a leader dog.org you can go to our website we have a donate button on there so we
have private donors who donate to us we have corporations who donate we get grants as well
and so there's a lot of different forms of donations that we receive and Lions Club members are a huge
part of that we were founded by three Detroit area Lions Club members so Lions Club International
there's Lions Clubs all over the country who donate to leader dog and help support our mission we
definitely could not do that without the help of our Lions. Great well thank you for the tour the
information and allow us to come and see and learn because that is very important I think for people
who maybe never think about this because they you see them occasionally on the road or anything
but like I think it's important for people for everybody to learn about all these processes
and like the needs and what to do and not to do with it that's when you see them right yes absolutely
well thank you very much and um we're gonna do a little test with me and see how important the
dogs are in this process so thank you again thank you that's a wrap for this episode of the Total
Car Score podcast want more expert takes on the hottest cars industry trends and insider insights
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my dog Max loves chewing on my favorite pair of shoes almost as much as he loves his blue
buffalo life protection formula dry dog food seriously he never leaves a crumb and I love it
too because it's made with high quality protein antioxidant packed fruits and nutrient rich veggies
blue buffalo foods are made with the superior ingredients your dog needs to thrive can your dog
food say that visit feedbluefood.com to learn more

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