Guide dogs from the Bay Area receive practical training

Guide dogs and puppies in training explored the sights, sounds and smells of the East Bay ferries and the San Francisco Ferry Building on Saturday as a part of a social outing designed to assist them change into accustomed to public transportation and real-life situations.

The pups and other people outing began Saturday morning on the Alameda Main Street ferry terminal with the primary group from the Foggy Doggie Alumni Chapter of Guide Dogs for the Blind and the organization's Berkeley Puppy Raisers. The group was then joined by more dogs and their handlers on the Oakland ferry terminal.

After a brief ferry ride across the bay, the group visited the Ferry Building, did a bit shopping and had lunch at Gott's Roadside.

A spokesman for Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, North America's largest guide dog training school, said the outing serves as a socialization exercise for the puppies in training on their option to becoming guide dogs for blind or visually impaired people.

It's necessary that the puppies learn good manners and are exposed to a variety of real-world situations, resembling public transportation, shopping, pedestrian traffic and eating, the spokesperson said. The outing also gave the volunteer puppy raisers a likelihood to spend time with Guide Dogs for the Blind clients and their guide dogs.

Since its founding in 1942, greater than 16,000 guide dog teams have accomplished training with Guide Dogs for the Blind. The nonprofit not only improves the mobility of its clients but additionally advocates for policy reforms related to blindness. The organization was the topic of a documentary film called “Pick of the Litter,” which is on the market on various streaming platforms.