guide dog

guide dog

guide dog a dog trained to lead a blind person. The first school for training such dogs was established by the German government after World War I for the benefit of blinded veterans. Schools now exist in several European countries and the United States, where the pioneer Seeing Eye, Inc., founded by Dorothy Harrison Eustis in 1929 and established near Morristown, N.J., in 1932, is the best known. The master spends about a month at the school training with the already trained dog and is usually charged a nominal fee. Although the German shepherd is by far the most widely used breed for guide-dog work, several other breeds, e.g., the golden retriever, the Labrador retriever, and the Doberman pinscher, have been trained successfully for this work. Approximately 10% of the blind population can use seeing-eye dogs successfully, that fraction including scores of persons who have achieved new independence through their assistance. Applicants may be rejected on the basis of sufficient useful vision, advanced age, poor health, or unsuitable temperament.

Bibliography: See D. Hartwell, Dogs against Darkness (3d ed. 1968); V. B. Scheffer, Seeing Eye (1971).

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guide dog

guide dog • n. a dog trained to lead a blind person.

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"guide dog." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 3 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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"guide dog." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 03, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-guidedog.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Guide dogs leading the way to more mobility for owners.(Neighbor)
Newspaper article from: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL); 7/19/1997
Guide dog makes ideal buddy.
Newspaper article from: Berwickshire News (Berwick upon Tweed, England); 12/25/2011
Guide Dogs for the Blind opens up the workplace for visually impaired staff;...
M2 Presswire; 4/2/2003

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