Image of the front of the Student Residence building (with wood paneling) on the San Rafael, CA campus

Campus Tours & Graduations

Experience GDB in action in California and Oregon.

Please visit us at one of our campuses! We offer a variety of tours for individuals and groups on a regular basis, and our graduation ceremonies are open to the public. A GDB graduation is a public ceremony that commemorates the accomplishments of our students and their new guide dogs during their past two weeks in class. Puppy raisers are invited to the graduation ceremonies to celebrate the life-changing partnerships they helped create and graduating class members bid farewell to return to their homes and families with their canine partners by their sides. Our campus tours give you the opportunity to see our campuses, facilities, and to learn more about our life-changing mission.

Please note: while you may get to see many guide dogs and puppies, we do not allow visitors to bring their pet dogs on our campuses.

Tours

Helpful Tour Information

All tours depart from the Volunteer Center, which is the first building on the left when entering the campus.
Tours last approximately 1.25 hours.
Guide Dogs for the Blind is a working campus. Tours are always subject to activities on campus.
Tours do not have contact with our puppy population, and contact with our adult dog population is based on the availability and discretion of staff.
Adults are expected to manage children on tours.
Everyone on the tour must be comfortable walking or standing for the duration of the tour on the California campus, as there is no seating along the tour route. The campus is fully accessible.
Our California campus Gift Shop is open on weekdays and graduation Saturdays from 11:00am to 3:00pm.
Limited parking is available on our campus; there is ample free and available parking in the neighboring area.

Drop-In Tours (seven people or less)

The following tours DO NOT require advance reservations.

Drop-in tours are available Monday through Friday and non-graduation Saturdays at 10:30am and 2:00pm (for dates, please refer to the graduation section below)
Drop-in tours, graduation Saturdays (for dates, please refer to the graduation section below)
Available graduation Saturdays at 10:30am and Noon

Group Tours (eight people to a maximum of 40)

The following tours DO require advance reservations. Please email tours@guidedogs.com to inquire about group tour reservations for 8 to 40 people.

Tour Bus and Adult Group Tours

Available Monday through Saturday at 10:00am
Group maximum: 40 people

Graduation Day Group Tours

Available on graduation Saturdays at 11:00am; graduation is at 1:30pm (for dates, please refer to the graduation section below)
Group maximum: 40 people
Note that Graduation tours tend to book up several months in advance

Children's Group Tours (non-school)

Children's group tours (including Scout groups) are available on non-graduation Saturdays at 10:00am (for dates, please refer to the graduation section below)
Minimum age: 2nd Grade

Children's School Field Trip Tours

School field trip tours are available Monday through Friday at 10:00am throughout the school year
Maximum school field trip tour size is 33 students. School tours are limited to Grade 2 and up.

Non-Tour Days 2019

January 1
January 21
February 18
May 4
May 27
June 19
July 4
July 13
August 23
September 2
November 28
November 29
December 24
December 25
December 31

Thank you for your interest in taking a tour of our Oregon campus. All tours of 10 people or more are by reservation only, and must be booked at least two weeks in advance.

Weekday tours: Groups of nine people or fewer may take a "drop-in tour," available Wednesdays 9:30am and 10:30am. Please go directly to the Visitor’s Center and a docent will greet you. We also offer group tours on Thursdays by appointment. Please note: due to a special event, we will not be offering our Wednesday drop-in tour of the Oregon campus on October 2, 2019.
Graduation Saturday tours: Our free public graduations take place on select Saturdays throughout the year at 1:30pm (see section below for graduation dates). Groups of 10 people or more can schedule tours either before (Noon) or after (2:30pm) the graduation ceremony. Groups of nine people or fewer may join a drop-in tour at those times as well.

For more tour information, or to make a reservation, please call Bonnie Shoffner at 800.295.4050 ex. 1558, or email bshoffner@guidedogs.com. (Please note: The tour reservation form on this page is for California campus tours only.)

Helpful Tour Information

All tours depart from the Visitor Center, which is the first building on the right when entering the campus.
Tours last approximately 45 minutes.
Maximum tour size is 30 people.
Guide Dogs for the Blind kindly requests that all tour groups arrive on campus no earlier than 15 minutes before their scheduled tour. Much of our tour is conducted outdoors, so please dress accordingly.
Guide Dogs for the Blind is a working campus. Tours are always subject to activities on campus.
Contact with our adult dog population is based on the availability and discretion of staff.
Adults are expected to manage children on tours.
Everyone on the tour must be comfortable walking or standing for the majority of the tour on the Oregon campus, as there is limited seating along the tour route. The campus is fully accessible.
Our Oregon campus Gift Shop is open on Wednesdays from 9:30am-12:00pm and on graduation Saturdays from 11:00am to 3:30 pm. You can shop anytime at our online gift shop.
There is ample free parking on our campus.

Graduations

Helpful Graduation Information

Graduations are held indoors in our Student Residence Auditorium.
Graduation ceremonies last approximately 1 hour; length depends on class size and other factors.
Limited parking is available on our campus; there is ample free and available parking in the neighboring area.

Graduations begin at 1:30 pm on the following Saturdays:

1/19/2019
2/2/2019
2/16/2019
3/16/2019
3/30/2019
4/13/2019
4/27/2019
5/11/2019
5/25/2019
6/8/2019
6/22/2019
7/6/2019
7/20/2019
8/3/2019
8/17/2019
8/31/2019
9/14/2019
10/12/2019
10/26/2019
11/9/2019
11/23/2019
12/7/2019
12/21/2019

Helpful Graduation Information

Graduations are held indoors in our Visitor's Center Auditorium.
Graduation ceremonies last approximately 1 hour; length depends on class size and other factors.
There is ample free parking on our campus.

Graduations begin at 1:30 pm on the following Saturdays:

1/26/2019
2/09/2019 - Cancelled due to inclement weather
2/23/2019 - Cancelled
3/09/2019
3/23/2019
4/6/2019
4/20/2019
5/4/2019
5/18/2019
6/1/2019 - Caps & Tails event; graduation in downtown Portland*
6/29/2019
7/13/2019
7/27/2019
8/10/2019
8/24/2019
9/7/2019
9/21/2019
10/5/2019
10/19/2019
11/2/2019
11/16/2019
11/30/2019
12/14/2019

* When available, information and details for Caps & Tails will be posted in the Events section of this site.

Directions

Oregon Campus

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California Campus

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Photography Policy

Guide Dogs for the Blind allows photography on our campuses and at our graduation ceremonies for personal use. However, the sale, rental, or commercial use of photography is prohibited (this includes photos or video of our facilities/grounds, dogs, clients, volunteers, and staff). Professional editorial photography or videography must be approved in advance by GDB's Marketing Department. Please contact VP of Marketing and Communications Karen Woon for approval: kwoon@guidedogs.com

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