Thank
you for visiting The OccuPaws Guide Dog
Association's website. OccuPaws is a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit, charitable organization located in
Madison, WI. OccuPaws is a world-class,
innovative and life-changing organization dedicated
to empowering the visually impaired while raising
awareness and education for both adults and
children. Our mission is to place well
trained guide dogs of excellent health and
temperament with Wisconsin residents who
have visual disabilities.
Our
guide dog mobility and Children's Visual Companion Dog training sessions take place in the comfort of
the client's home environment. We do this because
we believe that legitimate, personal circumstances
(family obligations, professional commitments or
secondary health conditions) should not prevent an
otherwise capable individual with a qualifying visual
impairment from enjoying the companionship and assistance a dog
guide can offer. Each dog and person is carefully
matched according to such traits as lifestyle,
personality, activity level, and walking speed.
In addition to
harness work and obedience commands, our puppy trainers teach
each client about the learning style of their particular
guide dog, about various aspects of guide dog behavior, and about
the innate characteristics of their guide dog's breed.
By the end of each in-home placement, the client will
have learned how to teach their guide dog new skills, and how
to work with and care for their canine visual partner
throughout the entirety of its career.
Our
hope is that our small size and collaborative training
practices will allow us to provide an extremely
supportive and highly customized experience to each of
our dog-person teams. Please help us by becoming a
volunteer puppy raiser, donating to OccuPaws to help us
place guide dogs or children's visual companion dogs or
becoming a volunteer at one of our fund raising events
to provide this unique visual aid to our visually
impaired community.
