Many people ask Ádám Balogh how much his guide dog works in a day. Sometimes with a tone suggesting that the dog must be overworked. This is why the Baráthegyi Guide and Service Dog School Foundation decided to mark Labor Day by showing exactly how many hours a guide dog works within a 24-hour period. We chose a typical workday, the kind that occurs most frequently throughout the year.

The video shows our foundation’s psychologist, Ádám Balogh, and his guide dog spending a day in Miskolc.

The short film was published on our foundation’s YouTube channel “Vakkantás”.

Regarding the measurement method, Ádám said: “When I put the harness on Oktáv – meaning he starts guiding me – I start a stopwatch, so we can track how much time the harness is on him throughout the day, and thus how much he works. Let’s take a look together at how much Oktáv, my guide dog, works on an average day, and how he usually relaxes and has fun.”

The results will surprise skeptics

At the end of the day, the following result was obtained: a guide dog works barely three hours on an average workday.

The final result was two hours and 56 minutes, which was Oktáv’s total working time. This means that he had the guide harness on for this long, but his actual guiding work was slightly less than that. While traveling in vehicles, waiting at his owner’s workplace and in a store, he was not actively working, but he was ready to help his owner with transportation. The recordings show how much it means that guide dogs are with their visually impaired owners during transportation, often even in difficult situations, e.g. in this case, when the road is blocked, they help them find the right crossing.

“With this video, we wanted to draw attention to the fact that guide dogs are not overloaded, but we should not underestimate how much help they provide to visually impaired people. The foundation’s staff and owners strive to ensure that our guide dogs have time to rest, have fun, and recharge in addition to their work. It is important to pay attention to their well-being.”

Some facts about guide dogs:

How many guide dogs are needed?

Hungary needs more guide dogs. Many people are waiting for a loyal companion at the foundation. There are currently 47 people on the waiting list. According to their plans, 30 puppies will be born in their breeding program each year, which will become guide dogs next year.

How much does a guide dog cost?

The total cost of a guide dog over its entire life is more than 6 million forints.

The dogs spend about 10 years working, the total cost of which is: breeding dogs, breeding, raising puppies, screenings, medical expenses, care, equipment, training (this is 2 million forints as a labor fee), training the owner; handover, examination, follow-up and care for ten years, replacement of equipment, extra medical expenses for an aging dog, retirement expenses, utilities, vehicle use, etc.

This will result in a total cost of more than 6 million forints over the ten years.

How is the money raised?

The foundation always provides its guide dogs to visually impaired applicants free of charge. The 1% of the amount needed for training is raised from donations and contributions.

This year we celebrate our 20th anniversary. Over the past two decades, we have provided more than 200 assistance dogs free of charge.

Please support their training with 1% of your personal income tax!

Our tax number for 1% donation: 18449149–1–05

Baráthegyi Guide and Assistance Dog School Foundation

If you provide your mailing address, we will also send you our guide dog calendar for next

year in the thank you letter.

The easiest way to donate 1% of your personal income tax is through the National Tax and

Customs Administration of Hungary (NTCA /NAV) online interface, via the customer portal.