Lions Foundation Dog Guides

Helping Canadians with disabilities become independent

The Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides program helps people with disabilities live an independent life by providing them with a specially trained dog that will enable them to navigate through their world. The program had its beginnings in 1985 with the founding of Canine Vision Canada to provide dogs to blind or visually impaired people. Over the years, the Dog Guides program expanded to cover five additional areas: hearing assistance, service dogs, diabetes alert, seizure response and autism assistance. Those dogs are considered to be service dogs and have a legally protected right to accompany their human companions anywhere. Recently, Dog Guides have been providing facility support dogs that are trained to assist vulnerable individuals in traumatic situations.

The Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides (LFCDG) is based in Oakville, Ontario, and provides service dogs to people in need across Canada, at no cost. The vast majority of dogs come from their breeding program. After the puppies are weaned, they are sent to live with a foster family for about 12 to 14 months. Following that, the dogs attend “college” where they are trained for a specific purpose. After training, they are matched with a family in need and then spend their working career, usually about eight years, with that family.

Janet Marissen has been fostering dogs since 1999, and her current foster dog is her twentyfifth. She receives the puppy at about seven or eight weeks old and then takes care of them until they are ready to go to college. The comparison with children is not lost on Ms. Marissen. “Unlike children, they come with a manual,” she said with a laugh. “They’re very specific about what to do. It’s very important to get them out and exposed to the world, because they need to be able to handle themselves in crowds, or with loud noises, or with kids around.” Foster parents are not paid, but the dog’s food is provided by corporate sponsor Pet Valu, and routine vet bills are also covered. The foster parents often develop a strong bond with the dogs and sometimes it is hard to let them go, but they do know it’s for a good cause. Occasionally, and for various reasons, a dog will be found unsuitable to continue training, and will be placed for adoption. Ms. Marissen was happy to adopt Mikey, who was deemed to be too timid to continue in the program.

It costs about $35,000 to fully train a dog to be placed with a person or family in need. LFCDG receives no government funding and relies entirely on donors to support the program. Linda Middleton’s late parents, Eva and Bernard, made a bequest to LFCDG that Linda and her children directed to sponsoring two autism support dogs. “We were not aware of this until after my parents passed away,” said Ms. Middleton. “My parents just chose that as a place they wanted to leave money.” She and her children also got to name the two dogs—a brother and sister named Marley and Haven—and attended the graduation ceremony where the dogs were placed with their families. “It was a lot more overwhelming than what we had anticipated. It was remarkable to see how many individuals were involved to raise one dog from the breeding kennels to the foster homes to their ‘university’ training, as they call it, and then the families come in and train with the dog,” said Ms. Middleton. “We’re very happy with the organization, with their protocols. We know the dogs will be very well looked after. It’s awesome to see these people receiving such a huge life support.” The amount of her parents’ bequest was sufficient to cover the sponsorship of two dogs, plus there was sufficient left to have a kennel room in the new facility—currently under construction— named after Eva and Bernard Middleton, as well as five trees planted in memory of family members.

An upcoming fundraising event for LFCDG is the annual Walk for Dog Guides on May 31, which has been sponsored by Pet Valu since 2017. “In addition to its financial support each year, Pet Valu franchisees, store operators and Animal Care Experts across Canada play an active role organizing and participating in walks in their local communities. Pet Valu also provides its premium line of Performatrin and Performatrin Ultra dog food and treats to all puppies, breeding dogs and Dog Guides in training,” wrote Picton Pet Valu franchise owner Tricia Daley in an email. Nationally, Pet Valu also sponsors dogs in the LFCDG program for placement with families. To learn more about the Walk for Dog Guides or to make a donation, please visit walkfordogguides.com

Autism assistance dogs Marley (L) and Haven (R) at their graduation from the Dog Guides program. The dogs were sponsored by a bequest from Linda Middleton’s late parents. (L-R): Marley’s new Mom, Ms. Middleton, her daughter Jodie, son Jason and his partner Amy, and Haven’s new family. Kneeling is Dog Guides representative Chris Marineau.