From Prison to Beverly Hills - The Journey of Leader Dog Lady – 2019 Hero Guide Dog an Interview with Dawn Rudolph

The Woof Life Show - A Podcast for Dog Lovers

In this episode of The Woof Life Show the podcast for dog lovers, Lauren Farricker chats with Dawn Rudolph who is the dog mom and handler of Leader Dog Lady who won the 2019 Hero Guide Dog Award.

Dawn Rudolph is legally blind and Leader Dog Lady is her guide dog. Dawn shares with The Woof Life show how much her world has changed so much since Lady came into her life. Leader Dogs are the eyes to support their handler and are trained like a Secret Service Agent to put their own life in danger before harm could come to their handler.

Leader Dog Lady’s life started in a peculiar way, she lived for the first year of her life with an inmate in Iowa named Kevin. Kevin worked diligently to train her with other inmates as a part of the program through Leader Dogs for the Blind. Interestingly the long-term success rate of pups trained in prisons is better for placement as a lead dog as compared to other training programs.

Since Lady came into Dawn’s life, her world has been vastly improved: they travel, they set goals, and conquer challenges like everyone else. Friends and family always ask them Leader Dog Lady what their upcoming adventures will be. They educate people about Leader Dogs for the Blind, go to Lions Club conventions to promote Leader Dogs for the Blind. We attend big events and fundraisers for this wonderful organization. July will be their four-year anniversary as a team. What a beautiful partnership and it’s so incredible to hear about the impact that a dog has on someone’s quality of life.

The 9th Annual American Humane Hero Dog Awards® will premiere on the Hallmark Channel on October 21st at 8pm ET/ PT. The event was hosted by Beth Stern and James Denton and presenters included Kristin Chenoweth, Shannen Doherty, Trevor Donovan, Danielle Fishel, Vivica A. Fox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jenna Johnson, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ally Maki, Larissa Wohl, Cameron Mathison, Debbie Matenopoulo, Kristoffer Polaha, Brandon McMillan, Barbara Niven, Roselyn Sanchez, Ariel Winter, Eric Winter, and Sofia Wylie.