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This facility, known throughout the international guide dog field for its groundbreaking advances in canine breeding and puppy training, required a major transformation in order to support the Guiding Eyes’ proprietary initiative entitled STEP – Successive Training and Enrichment Program.
The renovated 30,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility was made possible, in part, by the support of the PepsiCo Foundation. In total, Guiding Eyes raised $11 million to fund the renovation project. In 2012, a PepsiCo Foundation grant to Guiding Eyes helped make possible the expansion and renovation of the original Canine Development Center.
“We’re pleased to support the opening of the renovated Guiding Eyes Canine Development Center,” said John Stevenson of PepsiCo. “Beyond the grant we provided through the PepsiCo Foundation, we encourage volunteerism in the communities in which we operate, and more than 100 of our employees train and socialize puppies through Guiding Eyes in the tri-state area alone. This state-of-the-art facility will enhance the early training of guide and service dogs in ways that will enrich the lives of both the visually impaired as well as children with autism.”
Guiding Eyes provides guide dogs, professional training, and lifetime support services to people with vision loss at no cost to them, depending solely on contributions to fulfill its mission. Additionally, Guiding Eyes places specially trained service dogs with children on the autism spectrum.
Guiding Eyes for the Blind’s Canine Development Center is located at 361 Route 164, Patterson, N.Y. For more info call (845) 878.3330 or visit www.guidingeyes.org.
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