The "The Seeing Eye" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading in the local newspaper about the death of Lancaster's "gentle giant" Charlie who died at the age of 17.  Charlie served the city of Lancaster, PA for 10 years as a city police horse and recently retired from service due to arthritis and declining health.  The difficult decision of euthanizing Charlie was finally made due to his health rapidly worsening.  Tough anytime you have to euthanize an animal, but when he or she is a working animal, it becomes even harder.  Much the same I suppose with a seeing eye dog who after years of service to it's master has to be euthanized.  I'm sure a special bond is made between a working animal and their master, but the fact that humans traditionally outlive animals by many years, it can be stressful knowing you may have to have several animals in your lifetime.  I recently read about the history of The Seeing Eye (the group that founded and introduced seeing eye dogs) which began in Europe in the 1920s.  Dorothy Harrison Eustis moved from Switzerland to the United States to set up a breeding and training facility for German shepherds.  She had bred and trained police dogs for years, and along with Elliott "Jack" Humphrey, an American trainer and geneticist, they developed a scientific approach to breeding and training dogs.  German soldiers, who were blinded during WWI, began experimenting with guide dogs in the 1920s that were taught specific skills in German schools.  Dorothy learned about these schools and wrote a story for The Saturday Evening Post.  She titled her story "The Seeing Eye" that was published on November 5, 1927.  She immediately began receiving letters asking how to obtain a guide dog.  Mr. Frank Morris, a 19 year old resident of Nashville, TN who had been blinded in an accident, wrote to her.  At the time Dorothy didn't train dogs herself, but decided to try and help Frank.  Frank not only wanted a dog for himself, but to help train dogs for the blind.  In 1928 Frank got his first guide dog, Kiss.  He changed her name to Buddy and over time had five more guide dogs...all named Buddy.  Frank and Buddy went through six weeks of training to teach both how to become a team.  The following year Dorothy and Frank established The Seeing Eye in Frank's hometown of Nashville.  

The founding of The Seeing Eye

Soon after Frank and Buddy traveled the United States acting as ambassa- dors for The Seeing Eye.  A class was started in 1929 and several graduates were able to demonstate the usefulness of a guide dog.  The Seeing Eye moved to Whippany, New Jersey in 1930 where a permanent location for training was established.  In 1965 the organization moved to Morris Township, New Jersey where student residences, a veterinary clinic and kennels were located.  Since 1929 more than 16,000 partnerships between the blind and their seeing eye dog have been created in the US and Canada.  This past year the 90th anniversary of The Seeing Eye was celebrated.  So, how do the dogs do it?  They don't see colors as we do, so a traffic light means nothing to them.  During training, the owner of the dog learns to judge movement of traffic by sound.  They will command the dog "forward" at the appropriate time and the dog will carry out the command only if it safe to do so, since they have also been trained about motion.  This is called "intelligent disobedience."  

The seeing eye dog is recognizing motion

Usually the blind person will know their community and can direct their partner with commands such as "forward," "right," etc.  In new locations the blind will ask directions and communicate them to their dog with commands.  Have you ever tried to walk with your eyes closed?  Fall over stuff immediately?  It is amazing how an animal and person can bond where they both trust each other to the point of a "life or death" situation being resolved.  Thanks to Dorothy, Elliott and Frank for seeing the need and being able to develop The Seeing Eye.  It has been a gift for those who are blind so they can live a better life.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.