How many people in the U.S. have Seeing Eye dogs?
There are too many programs and independent trainers to
accurately count how many guide dogs are in place in the United
States.
However, the Seeing Eye, the most recognized program in the
world that trains guide dogs has reported in their 2007 annual
report that they had 1,760 graduate teams in the field. Note that
not all guide dogs are trained by the Seeing Eye. There are many
programs that train guide dogs, but only those trained at the
Seeing Eye are properly called "Seeing Eye dogs."
It is estimated there are about 20,000 Service Dog users in the
US.
The Seeing Eye graduated 60 new dogs in 2009.
Roughly 1,500-2,000 Service dogs graduate each year,
about 150-200 of those for the blind.