Dogs
for People With Disabilities
by Brigitte Smith
History of the Seeing Eye, or Guide Dog
Where the idea of using guide
dogs was first used is obscure. There is evidence that dogs
have been used for the blind, in various cultures for a very
long time. But it is know that there was no formal program
in existence until after World War I.
Why Were German Shepherds the
Original Companion Animals for the Blind?
Although today a number of different
breeds are commonly used as guide dogs, initially they were
all German Shepherds. The reason? First, the German
Shepherd has a strong sense of loyalty to its owner, giving
it a natural tendency to be protective. Having a very
protective dog as a companion is an obvious asset for
someone who may otherwise be easily attacked by less then
scrupulous individuals. Secondly, 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 devastated by financial depression. Many private
businesses failed and the Potsdam, the German school for
training the guide dogs for the blind was one of them.
Guide Dogs in the United States
and Elsewhere
The German program first made its
way to the United States due to an American woman, Dorothy
Eustis, who had heard about the German program and decided
it was a worthwhile concept. Because she owned a company
that was training German Shepherds as working dogs, she
decided she might also try to train guide dogs, or companion
animals for the
blind. She did not start this right away, however. In fact
she was still considering the possibilities when she penned
a story for The Saturday Evening Post about the
potential for guide dogs for the blind.
A Nashville man named Morris Frank
read the story and decided to write to 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 in
America.
As part of an arrangement he’d
made with Ms. Eustis, Mr. Frank then started training guide
dogs in the United States. The foundation that Mr. Frank
started was dubbed “The Seeing Eye” and the so-called
Seeing Eye dog was effectively born.
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. Visually
impaired people, and people with other types of disabilities who
have benefited from the use of a guide dog, the world over,
owe their thanks to Mr. Morris Frank of Nashville,
Tennessee.
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