Baráthegyi Guide and Assistance Dog School Foundation began its operations twenty years ago. Over the past two decades, we have provided more than two hundred guide dogs to visually impaired applicants, and in recent years we have also been involved in the training of personal assistance, mobility assistance and therapy dogs. In the anniversary year, we are providing an opportunity for those interested to gain as much knowledge as possible about the important role of guide dogs and the past and current operations of the foundation.
The most important result of the two decades is that we always provide guide dogs to visually impaired applicants free of charge, and of course we will continue to do so in the future. We participate in the life of guide dog teams by helping them to travel safely, covering the dogs’ larger healthcare costs, and ensuring their happy retirement years.
The necessary background for the training of guide dogs is provided by donations from individuals and companies, as well as by supporters who donate 1% of their personal income tax.
Lívia Kovács with her guide dog, Dakar
“We started working together with a couple of volunteers in 2006 on Baráthegy in Miskolc. A small, borrowed wooden house was perfect for the enthusiastic team, and in keeping with this, we are keeping the name of the settlement in the name of our foundation. We were all involved with rescue dogs at that time, and we enthusiastically planned not to stop there, but to help visually impaired people as well. Many people rightly consider the training of guide dogs to be the pinnacle of the profession, so we diligently started learning,” said Dr. Tamás Mezősi, founder and chairman of the board of trustees of the Baráthegyi Guide and Assistance Dog School Foundation, about the beginning.
Our school’s founder, dr. Tamás Mezősi
The two-decade journey in the training of guide dogs has had several important milestones.
Our foundation has been handing over guide dogs every year since the beginning without interruption. The first dog went to a visually impaired owner in 2007, and then we continued with 5, then 11 dogs. In the following years, the emphasis was no longer on quantitative development, but on qualitative development. To this day, we hand over 12-15 guide dogs per year, but the standard is becoming stricter. The dogs know more and more every year, and the preparation of visually impaired people for guide dog transportation is carried out according to an increasingly sophisticated methodology. We can say that with this, we have become a significant civil center for guide dog training in Hungary.
Miklós Bíró and Atom
It was an important professional achievement when the Baráthegyi Guide and Assistance Dog School Foundation gained full membership in the IGDF (International Guide Dog Federation), which brings together the world’s hundred most committed guide dog training organizations, in which our professionals, by participating in the work of the international top level, directly access the latest knowledge and participate in joint professional work.
Since 2018, we have been maintaining a special breeding program from which we select future guide dogs. The foundation of this breeding program was formed by special guide bloodline Labradors obtained from guide dog schools in Canada and New York State, and since then, breeding cooperation with the world’s leading schools has been ongoing.
“In the beginning, we started from the assumption that there were enough Labradors in the country to train as guide dogs, but over the years of our professional work, it has been proven that puppies born in our own litters have a much higher rate of becoming guide dogs. It is thanks to this decision that we can operate more efficiently today,” said our founder, Piroska Komondi.
Piroska Komondi, founder
We have launched a puppy-raising program in which puppies live with families until they are one year old, and where they become well-socialized, healthy and balanced guide dog students suitable for training.
We pay attention to satisfying the needs coming from the whole country, therefore we have been operating as a national organization almost from the beginning with trainers from Miskolc, Budapest and Transdanubia. Due to the arrival of many applicants, in recent years we have also been involved in the training of personal assistance dogs, assistance dogs for the disabled and therapy dogs.
After a few years, we moved from Baráthegy to the inner city of Miskolc to a rented property, and then three years ago we purchased a property in which we established the center where we currently operate.
We consider shaping social attitudes and promoting acceptance of visually impaired people to be an important task. We organize frequent school and corporate awareness campaigns and joint leisure programs for guide dogs and their owners.
The volunteer program, which has been operating since the beginning, is very popular nationwide, with a current membership of over 350 people. Volunteers participate in the puppy-raising program, foundation events, and the foundation’s daily work, such as driving visually impaired clients and their dogs to the vet, boarding guide dogs, and providing countless assistance in various situations.
We consider transparency in the use of donations to be mandatory for us, which is why we have been accepted into the community of ethical fundraising organizations in Hungary.
“Our work is based on broad social cooperation. Hundreds of volunteers and thousands of supporters have stood by us over the past two decades. We are grateful to everyone who helps us provide our guide dogs free of charge to visually impaired people,” said Dr. Tamás Mezősi.
Many people all over the country are waiting for our guide dogs!
Please support their training with 1% of your personal income tax!
Our tax number: 18449149–1–05
Baráthegyi Guide and Assistance Dog School Foundation
You can now donate 1% of your personal income tax on the NAV (NTCA – National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary) online interface by logging in here on your customer portal.
Our foundation’s puppy raiser, trainer and client with their dogs
How Much Does a Guide Dog Cost?
There is a growing need for guide dogs in Hungary. Many people are waiting for a loyal companion through our foundation. On average, 40–50 applicants are currently on our waiting list.
According to our plans, around 30 puppies are born each year within our breeding program, and in the following year, they may become guide dogs.
The total cost of a guide dog throughout its entire working life exceeds 6 million HUF.
A guide dog typically works for about 10 years. The overall cost during this period includes: breeding dogs and breeding program expenses, puppy raising, health screenings, veterinary care, daily care and equipment, professional training (of which approximately 2 million HUF is the trainer’s fee), client training, placement, certification, long-term follow-up and support for ten years, replacement of equipment, additional veterinary costs as the dog ages, retirement-related expenses, as well as operational costs such as utilities and vehicle use.
This is how the total cost over ten years exceeds 6 million HUF.
Our foundation provides guide dogs free of charge to visually impaired applicants.
The funds required for training are raised through 1% tax donations and other charitable contributions.
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