Independence Dogs Austria – Verein zur Ermöglichung der Selbstständigkeit durch Assistenzhunde

Continuing Education week in September 2025 in Leipzig, Naumburg and Jena.

Six guide dogs and their handlers explored Leipzig, Jena and Naumburg. They travelled by public transport, on foot and once by car. During these days together, guide dog mobility specialists Maria Gerstmann and Ingrid Sweeney had time to support the individual teams. The important skill of walking in a group was practised automatically. We spent a morning at a school, where we split up and were able to give almost a hundred children an insight into life with a guide dog. We explored an amusement park and a physics park in Jena, took a guided tour of Leipzig from the perspective of a blind person, went swimming with the dogs, visited Leipzig Zoo and enjoyed the music of one of the participants in the crypt of Naumburg Cathedral.

Four guide dogs are lying attentively in the red gravel with the Monument to the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig in the background.

Presenting our little banner while waiting for a lovely meal on Marktplatz, Leipzig

Two guide dogs at the Leipzig Zoo watching a hyena

A participant and her dog in the city center of Leipzig. An athletic team that the fastest sighted walking person would have trouble keeping up with.

September 2024: Guide dog teams on the St. James Way of the Camino Inglés

Guide dogs for the blind and the people they guide, walked together along the Camino from A Coruña to Santiago de Compostela. The teams came from Austria, Germany and Spain, a first time international cooperation of this kind. It was made possible by the funding of the charitable organization “Independence Dogs Austria” and the logistical and financial supporters such as Antonio Irastorza ( global lawyer, Embajador Marca Ejercito and Caballero Maestrante), as well as Purina Austria, ONCE Galicia, the Messerli Research Centre of the Veterinary University of Vienna, the Most Reverend Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela and private individuals. The project was designed and initiated by Ingrid Sweeney and Scott Fertig.

Beautifully international: 3 guide dog teams from Madrid, one team from Germany and 5 teams from Austria participated for incredible 8 days, which began with our respective departures from Vienna and Frankfurt to Santiago de Compostela by plane, and the Spanish teams from Madrid to Santiago de Compostela by train. Every day we walked one stage of the Camino Inglés and were honored with A Compostela, the certificate of the completion of a Camino, at the end.

Thanks to the wonderful support of ONCE Galicia, we were led by 2 local guides and taken to a new starting point every day by an ALSA bus. The highlights came at the end, when all the people with their guide dogs attended mass in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, during which our groups was mentioned specifically. In the evening, a chamber music concert organized by Ingrid Sweeney and Blanca Bello took place in the church ‘Iglesia de San Miguel Dos Agros’, close to the cathedral, with musician and guide dog handler Wolfgang Niegelhell, Ingrid Sweeney and two wonderful musicians from Santiago de Compostela performed. Tired but happy, the guide dog teams returned home the following day.

The amazing guide dog teams, the Guide Dog Mobility Specialists and the head of ONCE de Santiago de Compostela, José Antonio Riveiro Canosa, in front of the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

The guide dog teams cross an old Roman bridge

In ORF 2 on 21.8.2024, 18:30, in the show “Konkret”, there is a segment on this incredible adventure!

ORF Konkret

5 people with 3 guide dogs in front of a statue of St. Jacob. One of the dogs is a white poodle, then two black retrievers. — 3 Guide dog teams in July 2024, after walking the Austrian Camino from Schönbrunn to Purkersdorf. Tired and happy.

Would you like to support coming projects? Please get in touch with us! office@hillfshunde.at or donate directly:

Account Name: Independence Dogs Austria

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2023 Continuing Education for guide dog teams from September 10th to September 16th in the Salzkammergut, Austria

Beautiful 6 days in the Salzkammergut with the group of guide dog teams. Fun and exhausting. A truly beautiful harmonious experience.

Guide dogs and service dogs colored black and white lie on a sea wall in front of tourist passenger boats. The sky is foggy, a mountaian issubmerged in clouds — Guide- and service dogs lie on the sea wall, patiently waiting for the next step- doing outreach with grade school children. They had at this point taken 2 different boats and explored Toskana Park by the beautiful castle “Schloss Orth”.

Outreach with 2nd graders of the primary school in Gmunden

Teaching a group of kids about guide dogs

The group of kids walks with a girl wearing a dark mask walks with a black guide dog in harness during the outreach program in Gmunden.

The group of service- and guide dog teams crosses a large green field in the rain, on their way to a tasting of spices at the boutique spice manufacturer Marcel Ksoll, his wife Ulli and daughter Elaine at his store, “Cook and Grill”, where we visited the production area and were blown away by the combination of tastes and smells.

2022 Seminar Adventure from October 2nd -October 5th in Innsbruck and Wattens, Austria

Blessed with sunshine for the days the seminar was held, mostly in public spaces and outdoors.

Ambras Castle, the famous Spanish room. 5 guide dogs are lying quietly while their handlers pose for a photo in front of a large, carved and very old wooden door.

The guided tour afforded us in the Castle by the head curator, Dr. Seidl, was superb.

During the days we spent together from 7am until 8pm in the evening, it was wonderful to see all the teams master real life in completely different environments.

A chamber of a million mirrors in the Swarovski Crystal Worlds in Wattens, Tirol

The Swarovski Crystal Worlds were a big challenge for the dogs and their handlers. Many rooms were dark, floors and walls often studded with crystals and reflective The acoustics, sizes, experiences and soundscapes different in every space. One room called “The Forest”, was a maze of metal trees in the dark which the dogs had to navigate through individually. Here on the group photo, we are in the snowscape of “Silent Night”, it is quite chilly but the 8 people and the 4 visible guide dogs are relaxed and laughing.

A snowscape with guide dogs and their handlers in a Swarovski Crystal Wonders space

5 Menschen, 4 Führhunde sind vor dem Goldenen Dachl von Innsbruck — Innsbrucks famous Golden Roof in the old city, with guide dog teams in front.

Public Presentation of “Independence Dogs Austria” and a multi-day seminar adventure for assistance dog handlers and their service dogs

2021 Seminar Adventure from September 8th to September 12th

It was a great couple of days. Luckily the weather was with us all the way and our local township was supportive as well, ready to provide shelter if needed. The opening was cheerful and the service dogs highly impressed the police dog trainer that attended with their excellent discipline.

Getting ready to enter the train station in Gleisdorf with all the teams lined up indicating the sidewalk. A half hour train ride to the city at Graz main train station followed.

The group of assistance dog teams waiting patiently for the right tram to arrive at Jakominiplatz in the center of Graz, after walking down the pedestrian street “Herrengasse” with its bifurcation of trams. They are on their way to “Murpark”, a major shopping mall, where we demonstrated a whole obedience training unit on the red carpet.

Expert GDMI Maria Gerstmann asks the guide dog and his handler to move around obstacles at the camping site and to indicate the stairs made of pallets. He then continues up them into a Semi trailer and the handler instructs his guide dog to move along in a straigt line to explore the space ahead. This meant going to the end of the interior of the trailer. As there is no way forward at this point, the guide dog leads his owner back to the entrance point. Praise for good work is essential.

There is no video here, but here is the description: There was a lorry trailer on the field, which the teams entered via a staircase made of pallets. The teams went to the end of the trailer one by one and turned back as there was no way further. However, the entrance wing was then closed towards the stairs, while the other side with the abyss was open. The guide dog refuses to go any further as he realises that there is a precipice in front of the team and the actual exit is now blocked. The guide dog handler perceives so well what the dog is communicating to him through the harness that he can now use the mobility cane to find the problem that the dog is indicating to him.

Campfire lullaby after a very long day in the city

Our training area was lined by tents for those adventurous enough to camp out. And of course we had had a camp fire and roasted marshmallows, an amazing schnapps tasting and even sang some songs and listened to some fiddle playing..

The last day, several teams ventured through the nearby picturesque ravine to a pop-up water hole at the end of the trek.

It is wonderful to see the mobility support and guide dog, a dog trained specifically for his handler’s multiple disabilities. He supports her by bracing himself, as she loses her balance in the ravine.