The UK Guide Dog for the Blind Association
Dorothy Eustis and the Founding of the Charity for Assistance Dogs
Jul 17, 2009
The potential for dogs to assist blind humans has been known for centuries. However, the modern history of training dogs as guides originated during the First World War when dogs were used to lead blinded soldiers. In 1923, a guide dog training centre was established in Germany.
Dorothy Eustis, an American training dogs in Switzerland for the police and military visited the Potsdam centre. Impressed, she wrote an article that led to Morris Frank becoming America’s first guide dog owner. Frank, on reading her report, contacted Mrs Eustis who arranged to have a dog trained especially for him.
The Founding of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association
Dorothy Eustis founded her guide dog centre, The Seeing Eye, first in Switzerland and later in the United States. By 1930, articles about her work started to appear in the British press. Muriel Crooke and Rosamund Bond, both German Shepherd enthusiasts, and keen to establish a guide dog organisation in the UK started corresponding with her. The two British women, with Dorothy Eustis’s assistance, set up a trial scheme to train dogs in the UK. One year later, the first four British guide dogs were settled with their new blind owners and in 1934 the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association was formally established. In 1941, the first training centre opened in Leamington Spa, UK. At this time, there was little public support for working dogs: Attitudes changed gradually largely through the work of the Association.
“Puppy Walking” for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association
One problem, during the charity’s early years, was the difficulty of finding suitable dogs to train. A “puppy walking scheme” started in 1956 was successful with nearly 60 puppies being walked over the following two years. Puppies were placed with volunteer walkers who took the dogs everywhere with them, getting the young animal used to all manner of sights, sounds and smells that they might encounter during their working lives as guide dogs. A breeding programme was established in the 1960s to ensure the quality of the dogs entering the training scheme.
Suitable Breeds to Train as Guide Dogs
During that decade the number of puppies available to the charity grew steadily. A consequence of the Association running its own breeding programme was that, given the opportunity for careful selection at the young puppy stage, fewer dogs failed to qualify as guides. A prospective guide dog needs to be active, alert, tolerant of people and other animals, calm in crowds or unfamiliar surroundings and unafraid of noise.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that the two British women responsible for founding the Association were fans of the breed, German Shepherds were used almost exclusively in the early years. Later, they lost in popularity as guide dogs to other breeds notably Labradors and Golden Retrievers. German Shepherds are however, still frequently trained to guide the blind as well as remaining the most popular dog for police and military work.
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association: Dorothy Eustis’s Legacy
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association receives no financial aid from the British government. Through the hard work and support of many people, staff and volunteers, thousands of blind and partially sighted people have enjoyed independence unimaginable without the devotion of their canine friend. Dorothy Eustis, affected by the training she witnessed in Germany in the 1920s, would surely be gratified and impressed to see the organisation she was responsible for become the world’s largest breeder and trainer of working dogs.
Further Information
The primary source for this article is The UK Guide Dog for the Blind Association.
