I've known multiple people who're legally blind but could still theoretically get around without a cane who've gotten guide dogs. To get one from a school, though, I know the majority require you to demonstrate that you have good orientation and mobility skills with a cane.

I don’t have a guide dog yet, but am low vision and plan to apply for one in future. Right now I live in the tiniest apartment with no room for a dog.

People who are low vision can have a guide dog but there are a couple things to consider.

1. You’ve got to let the dog do their job. It’s easy for a dog to develop bad habits or get sloppy if they aren’t continually practicing their skills. For someone with some vision, it’s easier to countermand the dog and decide to go where your vision suggests. Then the dog learns they don’t really have to work as much, so they don’t.

2. You need to have work for the dog. For example, right now I work from home, and only go out a couple times a week. That’s not enough work for a guide. But if I was going in to work every day, so I’m going out most days, then it would be.

3. A guide dog is not a substitute for good orientation and mobility. The dog follows your directions but you still need to navigate yourself. That’s why guide dog schools generally insist you have good cane skills before considering you for a dog. They want to know you’ll be able to find your way around with your dog (and also have something to fall back on if the dog can’t work). I think it also helps reassure them that you’re active enough to have lots of work for the dog to do.

This is what I’ve learned about getting a dog from a guide dog school. I don’t know anything about training your own dog. But I do know that a guide dog goes through almost two years of training and socialization, so the schools want to make sure their dogs are going to the people who will benefit most from them.

I am not legally blind and to put it bluntly my optometrists have been utterly useless. "Her acuity is 20/20". Meanwhile that was in a dark room with effectively a spoon with holes and 15 minutes of me trying to focus on the top line of the chart but I have 20/20 vision. To say the least I realized I was not getting any assistance from them, despite the fact that the previous doctor was going to test me for a glaucoma but the new ones are just dismissing it because 20/20 acuity. Anyways as I already had a service dog for other reasons I ended up training to do guide work all on my own, I also have a 4 month old German Shepherd puppy that will hopefully be learning guide work when he is old enough. You might end up having to train the dog yourself but dependent on where you live it is possibly legal to do.

I had a lot of useful daytime vision when I got my guide dog back in 1999. Because I’m night blind though, it was especially helpful having him with me at night. The challenge for me was learning to rely on him during the day and not trying to override him with the vision I did have. It was a trust thing, but eventually I got used to it and realized it freed my vision up for other things like taking in my surroundings etc. I would call guide dogs and set up a consultation. One of their staff can help determine if it might be right for you. Best of luck

I am an instructor at a guide dog school, I can’t speak for all schools but at least at mine we do accept applicants who don’t always travel with canes. In fact many of our graduates still have a decent amount of usable remaining vision. During the interview phase however we ask people what kind of things do they daily that a guide dog will help them with. It’s important for the dogs to have consistent work to do, both for exercise and to keep their skills sharp. If say someone only wanted/needed to work their dog once a week when they went out at night it would not be an ideal situation, the dog wouldn’t be working often enough and their skill would quickly deteriorate. On the other hand, even if someone has some remaining vision but trusts/allows the dog to do it’s job even in situations where the person could technically use their own vision it can work out. And like a previous commenter mentioned having the dog do the work frees up the handler to use their remaining vision to take in their surrounding rather than having to focus on traveling safely.

One other thing to consider though is that for some people with a good bit of remaining vision traveling with a guide dog would be an inconvenience. The dog is trained to work in a certain way and it’s important for the handler to adhere to that rather than trying to take shortcuts and confuse the dog.

I hope that helps!

My husband’s vision has been rapidly declining for 20 years now, and currently he’s reduced to faint blurs in major haze (in full sunlight; in less light he’s completely blind). Being a service dog trainer already, and although he’s never before trained a dog for guide work, he trained his first guide dog about 7 years ago and used her any time he left the property. She provided a great deal of security even when he had some semblance of vision left, and when she died unexpectedly and suddenly a year and a half ago he said it was like going blind all over again. I convinced him to get another dog to train, and he did. For over a year he’s been using his new guide dog, and they’re inseparable. As an aside, his cardiologist told him last year, after seeing the difference in his ECG when the dog was absent and present, to never ever go anywhere without his dog. So she provides more of a service than simply guiding him.

I don’t use a cane and am not fully blind but I have a guide dog. She mainly gives me confidence when crossing streets or going new places, especially when it’s dark out.

It is possible for a low-vision person to have a service dog. I have enough remaining vision that I never use a cane (though I do know how to use one and admittedly in some situations it would make things much easier), but I had a service dog when I went off to university since it was going to be such a new environment.

I did have to find a school where I could train him and get him certified, but as long as you have a physical disability that the dog is trained to help you with, there is no "too much" vision to have a service dog.