Jorge Castelazo, a U.S. retiree living in Guanajuato, described his experience raising puppies to be guide dogs for the blind during an interview he gave on Channel 8’s morning program “Despierta Guanajuato” on March 28. He was joined by Julia Salido, our sterilization campaign director, who also has had a lot of experience raising and training dogs.
Before moving to Guanajuato, Jorge and his wife, Ellie, lived in Seattle, where they were volunteers for the organization Guide Dogs of America, nurturing puppies bred especially to become guide dogs for the blind and helping to train them for their careers.
Jorge emphasized the importance of accustoming all puppies, not just those in service programs, to being touched gently and lovingly from the very beginning of their lives. This benefits both dogs and people, not to mention veterinarians handling the dogs.
Also important is an awareness on the part of other people to recognize and respect the difficult job of being a guide dog or any other type of service dog. A lot of effort goes into the training of these dogs. They are all high achievers.
You can watch the interview by clicking here.