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The other 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 the nation of Germany was devastated by financial
depression. Many private businesses failed and the Potsdam,
Germany school that trained the guide dogs for the blind was one
of them.
The Beginning
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 penned 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 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.
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 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. 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.
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