If an organization is telling you to pay more than about $150 for a guide dog, they're probably not accredited by the International Guide Dog Federation. With the exception of one or two schools in the U.S., all guide dog schools give dogs to their clients at no cost, with the dogs being raised through donations. The only costs to owning a guide dog are food and veterinary costs, which are sometimes partly subsidized by the organization from whom you received the guide dog.,

When you say you struggle with getting around Boston, have you updated your O&M training since you moved from a rural setting? We live in a very rural setting and I can see the cane training and practice my daughter gets would not do for urban life. She can use her hearing for crossing the road, we've quiet streets, low traffic, no kerbs and no green men to cross at.

For Townie life she would need new training for sure

I'm sure there are similar services if you look for them, but Gallant Hearts is one I have been introduced to recently.
https://www.gallanthearts.org/

They donate guide dogs to the blind and visually impaired, as I understand it, though most of them are Dobermans. I met one of their clients and I was really impressed witht he dog. The owner told me that she chose Gallant Heart's Dobermans because unlike the Lassie dogs, no one walks up to pet her Doberman without asking first. Plus he "clears the path to the elevator like the parting of the Red Sea."

are you inquiring about a service dog, or a guide dog? a service dog can be used for all sorts of purposes, but a guide dog is for guidance for the blind and visually impaired.

how is your vision in the eye that works? from what i understand, you have to be legally blind (20/200 or less in the better eye with the best correction possible) in order to qualify. if your good eye doesn't require any sort of correction, i don't think you would qualify for a guide dog.

Did you get some blindness skills training with a white cane? If not you should reach out to National Federation of the Blind.

If youre willing to travel, $1 offers on sight classes that will match you to your dog and train you on sight. Free of charge if i remember correctly.

Contact them and ask about resources in your area.

I prefer to stick to my cane, but I have friends who have guide dogs.

As others have said, you should not be paying out of pocket for a guide dog. If you are, you're probably being scammed.

Have you had any O&M training since moving to Boston? That should be your first step. You may find that, after the training, you don't need a dog. If you still do, most schools require you to have solid O&M skills first anyway, so that puts you in a good place for that.

You may want to go ahead and apply and get yourself on a waiting list. Wait times are going to be a bit longer than usual right now due to COVID. It's been harder to raise dogs (puppy handlers unable to socialize them properly, etc.) and a lot of people have had to retire their dogs due to not being able to work them enough during the pandemic for them to retain their training.

There are multiple guide dog schools in the US that offer their dogs completely free of charge. Some will even cover your travel fees and provide lodging+food.