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.
