BC Guide Dog Service

William S. Thornton is the CEO and Co-Founder of British Columbia Guide Dog Services was our speaker on October 15 2013. Bill’s guide dog career began in 1977, when he joined the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (U.K.). In March 1980, Bill graduated as an accredited Guide Dog Mobility Instructor.

In 1984 Bill founded Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind (Ottawa), where he served as President and CEO from 1984 to 1995.

In 1996, Bill co-founded British Columbia Guide Dog Services, then launched Alberta Guide Dog Services as a division of BC Guide Dog Services in 2002. In partnership with BC Guide Dog Services, Bill has taken a leading role in the founding of Autism Support Dogs to help autistic children aged 4 to 10.

The Rotary Club of Ladner is a founding supporter of the BC Guide Dog Service and is still listed on the organizations website and in their literature as a founding supporter.

BC Guide Dog Services maintains an in-house breeding program. The role of the breeding program is to provide a regular supply of suitable adult dogs for our training programs. They breed Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers and a first cross of the Labrador and Golden Retriever.

All puppies bred by BC and Alberta Guide Dog Services are placed on our professionally-supervised volunteer Puppy Raising program. The Puppy Raising program is conducted in three major centers: Greater Vancouver Area, Victoria and the greater Calgary area.

When the puppies on the program are approximately fifteen months old, they enter advanced training with our Guide Dog Mobility Instructors.

The role of the Puppy Raiser is to provide the training department with obedient, well-socialized, confident adult dogs to undertake professional guide dog training.
The Guide Dog Services has a new home on a one-acre lot on Ladner Trunk Road. The new facility features 20 per cent more square-footage, and includes an onsite training facility, vet clinic, delivery rooms, and the organization’s administration office.

Breeding mothers spend five to six weeks at the facility under the care of staff and volunteers, while the puppies remain there until they are seven weeks old before being handed over to volunteer host families who help train the dogs.

There are close to 30 dogs being trained, and there is currently a two- to four-year wait to receive one.

While the organization provides guide dogs and autism support dogs free of charge, the process to train them generally lasts two years, and costs more than $35,000. Bill Thornton hopes to expand the new facility with the construction of a 10,000 square-foot breeding, training, and education centre.