BC & Alberta Guide Dogs' new Delta breeding centre doubles expected service dog graduates in coming years

BC & Alberta Guide Dogs expects to double the number of service dogs it graduates in coming years thanks to a new $8.1 million breeding and training facility in Delta — the first of its kind in Western Canada.

The 10,000 square foot state-of-the-art building opened this summer with puppies already born on-site. Linda Thornton, who leads the breeding program, said the facility's ultrasound and testing equipment allows the team to identify pregnancies with unprecedented speed and accuracy. "This is a very unique unit, the first of its kind in Western Canada for sure," Thornton said.

Organization head Bill Thornton said the facility was 30 years in the making, driven by exponential growth in demand. Service dogs were once trained primarily for the visually impaired, but research has shown that people with autism, veterans with PTSD, and first responders dealing with burnout can all greatly benefit from them. "Over all that period of time, exponentially, the number of people who wanted these dogs multiplied, just beyond our scope," Thornton said.

The facility was made possible by donations, federal grants, and extensive planning. Volunteers work with puppies on site, preparing them for the final specialized training that leads to matching with their partners. Bill Thornton said the pairing can be life-changing. "If a person's goals were to go from A to B, you'll actually find they're at D, they're all the way through the alphabet, they got to Z, they're doing absolutely everything and they're achieving things that they didn't think they could possibly do before."

Raiser Lori Coghill recently watched her puppy Phil graduate to a role with the Port Coquitlam Fire Department. "Being able to see him go through the ceremony and be sworn in was just the proudest moment. He was amazing," Coghill said.