Seeing
Eye Dogs - A Brief History
by:
Jacob
Deam
You have no doubt seen a blind
person being lead across a busy
intersection by a Seeing Eye dog.
These functional companions have
been used to help handicapped
people become independent for
years. Nobody knows exactly when
the concept of a Seeing Eye dog
came into existence but it has
been suggested that dogs have
been used in such a capacity in
various cultures for a very long
time. It is known, however, that
there was no formal guide dog
program in existence until after
the First World War.
Why German Shepherds?
Many people have probably wondered
why guide dogs and Seeing Eye
dogs are so often German Shepherds.
There are two reasons. First,
the German Shepherd has a strong
sense of loyalty to its owner,
giving it natural protective tendencies.
Having a very protective dog as
a companion is an obvious asset
for someone who may otherwise
be easily attacked by someone
with bad intentions. The second
reason is far simpler; the first
guide dogs for the blind and visually
impaired were trained in Germany
to provided assistance for those
blinded in the war.
After the end of World War I,
Germany was in a state of financial
depression. Many private businesses
failed and the Potsdam, Germany
school that trained the guide
dogs for the blind was one of
them.
The Seeing Eye was born
An American woman named Dorothy
Eustis had heard about the program
and decided it was a very worthwhile
endeavor. Because she owned a
company that was training German
Shepherds as working dogs, she
decided she might try to train
guide dogs for the blind. She
did not start this right away,
however. In fact she was still
considering the possibilities
when she wrote a story for The
Saturday Evening Post about the
potential for guide dogs for the
blind.
A Nashville man named Morris
Frank had heard the story and
decided to get in touch with Ms.
Eustis and ask her to train a
dog for him. She did and Mr. Frank
became known as the first blind
person to use a guide dog.
As part of an arrangement he’d
made with Ms. Eustis, Mr. Frank
started training guide dogs in
the United States. The foundation
that Mr. Frank started was named
“The Seeing Eye” and the dogs
that were used were dubbed Seeing
Eye dogs.
Today guide dogs are trained
to assist people with many different
disabilities. There are Hearing
Ear dogs to assist the deaf and
other dogs that assist the physically
disabled. All of the people who
have benefited from the use of
a guide dog, however, owe their
thanks to Mr. Morris Frank of
Nashville, Tennessee.
