Guide
Dog Foundation and America’s VetDogs Launch “Building for the Future,” a
Multi-Million-Dollar, Multi-Year Initiative to Create New Puppy Development
& Visitor Center
Investment
Will Strengthen Earliest, Most Critical Stages of Every Future Guide, Service,
and Facility Dog’s Journey, Deepen Community Connection, and Help More People
with Disabilities Live Without Boundaries®
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Smithtown, NY, July 22, 2026) -- The Guide Dog Foundation and America’s
VetDogs today announced the public launch of Building for the Future,
a multi-million-dollar, multi-year initiative to build a state-of-the-art Puppy
Development & Visitor Center -- a transformational investment that will
strengthen the earliest and most critical stages of every guide, service, and
facility dog’s journey. Construction of the 30,000-square-foot facility is
scheduled to begin this summer, with the building expected to open in
2027-2028. Following a pre-launch period, the public is now invited to learn
more, follow progress, and donate at GuideDog.org/Build or VetDogs.org/Build.
Over time, the goal of the new Puppy
Development & Visitor Center will be to:
·
Expand
impact by 25%, enabling the organizations to raise, train, and place more
puppies as life-changing guide, service, and facility dogs for individuals with
disabilities.
·
Welcome
and unite the community through a 300-person gathering space for public
graduations, celebrations, and mission-driven events.
·
Prioritize
canine health and care with enhanced biosecurity and a modern veterinary suite.
·
Engage
and educate visitors through hands-on learning experiences for schools,
community groups, and the public.
“For every guide, service, and
facility dog handler, the road to greater confidence, mobility, and
independence begins with a puppy,” said John Miller, president and CEO, Guide
Dog Foundation and America’s VetDogs. “By investing at the very start of each
dog’s journey and allowing the public to more deeply engage in these earliest
stages of development, we will strengthen outcomes, meet growing demand with
excellence, expand our community of supporters, and ensure our mission thrives
for generations to come.”
The Puppy Development & Visitor
Center will be located on the Guide Dog Foundation & America’s VetDogs current
national headquarters campus in Smithtown, New York, where it has been based
since the early 1950s. The Town of Smithtown, led by Supervisor Edward R.
Wehrheim, was instrumental in facilitating the project to ensure the
organizations could expand in their current location.
“We are excited to see the Guide Dog
Foundation and America’s VetDogs build upon its long history in Smithtown and
enhance its capacity to serve more people with disabilities, including our
nation’s veterans and first responders,” said Supervisor Wehrheim, a Vietnam
veteran who served in the U.S. Navy. “In addition to supporting the
organization’s growth and impact, this project will support economic
development with jobs, engage the community through volunteer opportunities,
and become a destination for good that will change the lives of people across
the country.”
The project’s architectural design is led
by Studio
Miers | Chou | Poon Architecture, a California-based
firm with decades of specialized experience designing animal care, veterinary,
humane education, and assistance-dog facilities throughout North America. The
firm is collaborating with Chris Downey, principal of Architecture for the
Blind, an internationally renowned blind architect and accessibility expert as
well as bld
Architecture, dpc, an
accomplished Long Island architectural firm with more than four decades of
experience and deep knowledge of the region. Construction will be led by TRITEC
Real Estate Company, one of
New York’s most established and respected development and construction firms,
which will manage all aspects of construction and bring extensive experience
delivering complex, community-focused projects across the region.
The new facility will enhance proven
breeding, whelping, nursery, and early development programs—bringing expert
staff and best-in-class resources together to give every puppy the healthiest
possible start. As an industry leader, the facility will enable responsible
growth while maintaining the highest standards of accredited assistance dog
training, care, and placement, as recognized by Assistance Dogs International
(ADI) and the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF).
The Visitor Center will serve as a
place of learning, inclusion, and connection. With space to welcome more than
300 guests, it will bring the organizations’ missions to life through
Celebration Saturday graduations, interactive experiences, and opportunities
for the public to engage with the individuals and dogs we care for and serve.
Together, we will help more people with disabilities Live Without Boundaries®
through the extraordinary impact of accredited, custom-trained assistance dogs.
“With national reach, dual
accreditation, top charity ratings, and 80 years of combined service, those in
need of our services can trust that our programs, pups, and people are
best-in-class while donors, foundations, partners, volunteers, and staff can
invest with confidence in our organizations, which are highly regarded for
transparency, integrity, quality, and life-changing impact,” concluded Miller.
Watch the Building for the Future video featuring a virtual walkthrough of
the new facility and commentary from program graduates.
About the Guide Dog Foundation &
America’s VetDogs
For 80 years, the Guide Dog Foundation (est. 1946) and America’s VetDogs (est. 2003) have transformed lives by
providing accredited, custom-trained guide, service, and facility dogs to
individuals who are blind, have low vision, or have other disabilities,
including veterans, active-duty military, and first responders with physical
and emotional disabilities.
It costs
more than $50,000 to breed, raise, train, and place one assistance dog, but the
organizations provide their services completely free of charge, empowering those they serve to Live
Without Boundaries®.
Together, each of these independent
sister 501c3 nonprofit organizations have placed more than 3,300 guide,
service, and facility dogs; support active teams of people and guide, service,
and facility dogs in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Canada, and
beyond; and engage more than 1,400 volunteers annually. Accredited by
Assistance Dogs International and the International Guide Dog Federation, both
organizations earn the top ratings from the leading charitable watchdog
organizations, including Candid, Charity Navigator, and the Better Business
Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance. Learn more and how to apply, volunteer, and
donate at GuideDog.org or VetDogs.org.
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