How long does it take to train a seeing-eye dog?

Training Time

First off a "Seeing Eye Dog" refers to dogs from The Seeing Eye - one specific training program. You can find out more information about them and their specific program at http://www.seeingeye.org/ According to their FAQ it takes exactly 22 months and 27 days to train one of their graduates.

My guess is that you wanted to know something much more general... how long does it take to train a "Guide Dog"? A Guide Dog is a Service Dog trained to guide a person with a disability affecting their sight.

Typically the actual working part of a dogs training takes between 3 and 9 months - after the puppy stage and "being a good pet" training is finished. This is why many organizations use volunteer puppy raisers - it helps get their dogs through the basics with very little expense (most training organizations run on donations alone). Other groups scour rescues and adopt adult dogs who have already gone through the puppy stage... and yet others place their dogs in their future homes as puppies to help the bonding process along.

First answer by Dog-ma. Last edit by Kirsten07734. Contributor trust: 19 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 44 [recommend question]