Freedom Guide Dogs is a non-profit organization in the US which breeds, raises, trains, and provides guide dogs for blind individuals and the visually impaired. Based in Upstate New York, the organization aims to make its services available to all but at the moment is only able to serve the Eastern portions of the country. Traditional guide dog schools employ a facility-based training method where blind individuals and the visually impaired go to the facility to train with their guide-dog-to-be for three or four weeks, bringing home their guide dogs when training is completed. Freedom Guide Dogs follows a different approach called Hometown Training.

At no cost to the client, Hometown Training is offered wherein a trained guide dog is brought to the blind individual’s home and then trained for another two to three weeks in an environment familiar to them. This approach has proven to be successful for the organization, what with over 120 clients satisfied across 10 states in the US. To complement the Hometown Training program, Freedom Guide Dogs created a puppy enrichment center to provide young dogs with an ideal start to prepare them to become the best guide dogs possible. 

Additionally, the organization also breeds its own dogs to ensure their quality as guides. Some of the breeds the organization uses include the Labrador Retriever, Smooth-coated Collie, Standard Poodle, American White Shepherd, and Barbet.

Freedom Guide Dogs receives funding from other foundations and organizations, individuals, and corporations. In 2013, more than $350,000 was raised in donations, funding the organization’s various program aimed at helping blind individuals and the visually impaired receive the aid they need through the best guide dogs. A lot of applications come in for guide dog requests so it is not unusual for waiting periods to last up to a year and a half.