OUR ALBERTA TEAM
William S. Thornton, C.E.O. & Co-Founder of British Columbia Guide Dog Services.
Bill’s guide dog career began in 1977, when he joined the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (U.K.) and commenced a three-year training program to become an accredited Guide Dog Mobility Instructor. In March 1980, Bill graduated as an accredited Guide Dog Mobility Instructor.
In 1984 Bill founded Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind (Ottawa). He served as President and C.E.O. of Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind from 1984 to 1995.
In 1996 Bill co-founded British Columbia Guide Dog Services. Since then a new division has been launched in Alberta, Alberta Guide Dog Services. In partnership with B.C. Guide Dog Services Bill is taking a leading role in the founding of Autism Support Dogs, working with autistic children aged 4 to ten.
In 1988, Bill was a Charter Member of the International Guide Dog Federation, and in 1990, was elected to the Board of Directors. He served until 1996 and then in 1998 was re-elected and served on the IGDF Board until 2006. In 1992 Bill was appointed as an International Assessor for the International Guide Dog Federation. He has accredited schools in England, Ireland, Japan and Australia. He continues in this role.
In 2005 Bill, along with his good friend, Paul Keymer, from the Minnesota Guide Dog Breeding Centre, founded the International Guide Dog Federation’s Derek Freeman Scholarship. In recognition of Derek’s extraordinary contribution to the guide dog movement, Bill and Paul established the Derek Freeman Scholarship to remember his kindness, generosity and enormous talent in the discipline of guide dog breeding and puppy raising. The scholarship has been awarded on five occasions going to organizations in South Africa, Taiwan, Australia, the United States and Slovakia.
In 2006, the International Guide Dog Federation awarded Bill the prestigious Ken Lord Award for exemplary services to the International Guide Dog Movement.
Susan Deike, Manager, Development & Communications
Susan joined Alberta Guide Dog Services in January 2006. Part of her duties include investigating various sources of funding and helping people learn about what we do as a charity. She is also responsible for keeping B.C. and Alberta Guide Dog Services in the "public eye".
Susan graduated in 1982 and has a BA in sociology/anthropology from the University of Toronto and another BA in journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto. She spent about six years working for a newspaper as a journalist and then moved on to fundraising and publicity working for various charities involving the arts, healthcare and entertainment.
Donna Luchak, Puppy Raising Supervisor
Donna is a native Calgarian and joined Alberta Guide Dog Services in January 2008. She is responsible for all the puppies that are now being raised in Alberta. She interviews potential puppy raisers and decides where we will place our puppies. She is also responsible for giving the obedience classes that our puppies attend at this stage and also ensuring that they are all properly vaccinated.
Donna received post secondary education as a Medical Laboratory Technologist. She has attended numerous classes with different trainers, gaining varied perspectives on training methods. She has attended seminars dealing with stress management and canine body language. She was a volunteer coordinator, puppy raiser and obedience training assistant for Pacific Assistance Dogs (PADS) in Calgary. She has volunteered with the Calgary Humane Society assisting the behavior department with intervention classes with the shelter dogs.
