Our founder Anne (who is blind herself) discovered there was a long
waiting list for a new German Shepherd guide once her old one had retired.
She felt that a waiting time for mobility of up to 3 years was a very
long time and decided to do something to help ease the situation.
Initially, to make sure there was a demand for German Shepherd guides, Anne
completed 4 different surveys of the blind community throughout the United
Kingdom. These surveys came back as a resounding YES for more German
Shepherds, as well as a resounding YES for indepth, controlled, residential
centre training.
Since that time Anne has registered Pathfinder Dogs as a charity (SC035007 and
1137722) as well as a Limited Company by Guarantee. Our company name and
charity name is Pathfinder Guide Dog Programme, however, we trade as Pathfinder
Dogs. We are completely independent of any other organisation.
Anne and her group of loyal volunteers can be seen on street collections
throughout Scotland as well as speaking to community groups and companies about
blindness and dogs as a whole. Anne has a solid background in the dog
world having worked with dogs for over 35 years, she herself says "you
never know it all and there is always something new to learn in the dog
world".
Pathfinder Dogs qualified our first 2 working dogs in 2010. We plan to
recruit at least 2 puppies each year to enable us to continue and grow until we
complete the construction of our training village. We will be entering
into our own breeding programme once we have our training village built and the
facilities on our grounds to take care of these puppies and their parents.
About us 
