SF State is the first university in the world to offer a program that trains educators how to teach visually impaired people to use Guide Dogs.

But SF State is not alone.

Guide Dogs for the Blind, in San Rafael, is collaborating with the University in offering a guide graduate certificate in Guide Dog Mobility.

Michael Hingson, the National Public Affairs Representative for Guide Dogs for the Blind, has traveled with a Guide Dog since 1964—when he was only 14.

Hingson and “Roselle”, his fifth Guide Dog, are well-known as representatives of the strength of the human/animal bond and have escaped from the 9/11 attack in the World Trade Center.

Hingson said other schools might consider this kind of program, but they need to go further.

“We are using techniques that are mostly used by sighted people to teach blind people to travel,” Hingson said. “We are beginning to look at how a blind person might teach a blind person how to use a guide dog.”

The Guide Dogs for the Blind started in a rented home in Los Gatos, California and moved to San Rafael in 1947 in order to meet the increasing demands for its services.

Lois Merrihew and Don Donaldson established the school in 1942 to help wounded servicemen who would return from the World War II without their sight.

Since then, the school has provided more than 10,000 dogs to visually impaired people.

David Kent, a Guide Dog owner for 26 years, is one of them.

Kent is the first person to travel from Europe to the United States with a Guide Dog in the airplane’s cabinet.

“International travel has become a whole lot easier,” Kent said.

“The ability to move around with my dog, independently, means a lot because it gives my independence and dignity back in a way that using a white cane never could.”

You can visit the Guide Dogs for the Blind’s website at http://www.guidedogs.com and find out more about the Guide Dog Mobility Program at http://online.sfsu.edu/~guidedog/ .