The Most Trusted Friend and Companion: A Guide Dog!

Guide Dogs: from Wikipedia Encyclopaedia.

Guide dogs are assistance dogs trained to lead blind and visually impaired people around obstacles. Although the dogs can be trained to navigate various obstacles, they are partially (red/green) color blind and are not capable of interpreting street signs. The human half of the guide dog team does the directing, based upon skills acquired through previous mobility training. The handler might be likened to an aircraft's navigator, who must know how to get from one place to another, and the dog is the pilot, who gets them there safely. In several countries, guide dogs, along with most service and hearing dogs, are exempt from regulations against the presence of animals in places such as restaurants and public transportation.

History of guide dog, by seeing eye

While there has been a long history of dogs assisting people who are blind, it was not until after World War I that a formal dog guide program was developed. A school in Pottsdam Germany trained German shepherds as guides for blinded veterans of the war, but did not stay in existence for very long. However, an American woman living in Switzerland learned of the program and ultimately advanced the modern dog guide movement in the United States. Her name was Dorothy Harrison Eustis and she was a wealthy Philadelphian experimenting with the training of German shepherds as working dogs. When she visited the Pottsdam school, she thought the concept of a dog guide was a noble profession for which to train her own dogs. But it was not until after she wrote an article about the Pottsdam school which appeared in the November 5th, 1927 edition of The Saturday Evening Post that she had any cause to incorporate dog guide training for her dogs.

Morris frank, a young blind man living in Nashville, Tennessee heard the article and wrote to Ms. Eustis asking her to train a dog for him. Morris Frank had lost the use of his eyes in two separate accidents and did not like depending on others. He asked Ms. Eustis to train a dog for him and, in return, he would teach others who were blind so that they, too, could become independent. Ms. Eustis replied that if he could come to Switzerland for the training, she would accommodate his request. Morris Frank became the first American to use a dog guide and Buddy, a female German shepherd, became the pioneer dog guide in America.

Morris Frank returned home to Nashville and honored his promise: with $10,000 from Ms. Eustis, Morris Frank worked to establish the first dog guide school in America. Incorporated on January 29, 1929, it was called The Seeing Eye, after the article Ms. Eustis wrote. The title came from Proverbs 20:12 in the Bible, "The seeing eye, the hearing ear; The Lord hath made them both." The first class had two students and by the end of the first year 17 people experienced new-found freedom with Seeing Eye dogs by their sides. By 1931, it became evident that the Nashville weather was not conducive to year-round training and the school relocated to New Jersey.

Click here to see video about guide dog:

This video offers tips on how to interact with a new guide dog team.

Organizations for Guide Dogs:

Guide Dogs for the Blind

The San Rafael Guide Dog provides lifetime of support and creates the best partnerships. The organization offers support throughout the life of a Guide Dog team free-of-charge. An individual blind person may be paired with many Guide Dogs throughout his live; and, GDB assists through the transitions.

Seeing Eye Guide Dog organization

Seeing Eye guide dogs organization works to enhance the independence of qualified blind persons in the United States and Canada

Guide Dog Foundation

Eye Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc. Eye Dog Foundation was organized as a non-profit corporation in 1952.

Guide Dogs of America

Guide dogs of America Provides professionally trained guide dogs and instruction in their use, free of charge, to blind and visually impaired individuals.

Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation

Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation trains guide dogs like German shepherd dogs for in-community placement.

for leader dogs for blind

Leader Dog provides guide dog training, accelerated orientation and mobility training, a summer youth program, and auditory GPS training to increase the ability of the user to travel independently in new environments.