Last year the staff of the TODAY show teamed up with Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a nonprofit organization that trains guide dogs, to help train a yellow Labrador Retriever named Wrangler to be a guide dog. Wrangler spent 14 months with the TODAY show staff before moving on to his formal guide dog training, where he learned invaluable skills and met a few cool people along the way:
Wrangler has now completed his formal guide dog training, graduating with Guiding Eyes for the Blind's September 2016 class. Wrangler is West coast bound, heading home with his new partner, Bill Stevens.
This year there's a new kid on the block, and his name is Charlie! Charlie is an adorable black Labrador Retriever from The Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind's sister program, America's VetDogs. America's VetDogs "trains and places guide dogs for individuals who are blind or have low vision; PTSD service dogs to help mitigate the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder; hearing dogs for those who have lost their hearing later in life; service dogs for those with other physical disabilities, and facility dogs as part of the rehabilitation process in military and VA hospitals."
Watch Charlie's introduction video here:
And learn more about America's VetDogs here:
Good luck, Charlie!