Rutaksha Rawat -Seeing EYE DOGS

2. Rutaksha Rawat -Seeing EYE DOGS

3. From the time they were domesticated, dogs have proven their unconditional love towards humans time and again. Dogs have been loyal companions to man since time immemorial, and today have become an integral part of his daily life. Dogs accompany man everywhere from homes to trips, even outer space. (Laika was the first dog to accompany astronauts into outer space). Now, a bunch of dog breeds are expressing their devotion to humans by being their eyes — helping the blind cross busy roads, navigate crowded passages and even flush the toilet for them. These dogs that are specially trained to guide the blind are the heroic of the hero dogs, never off duty and always on their Master’s side. These are Seeing Eye Dogs or guide dogs.

4. In many countries, guide dogs, along with most service and hearing dogs, are exempt from regulations against the presence of animals in places such as restaurants and public transportation. Although, the dogs can be trained to navigate several obstacles, they are partially (red-green) colour blind and are not capable of interpreting street signs. The human half of the team does the directing, based upon skills acquired through previous mobility training. The handler is akin to an aircraft's navigator, who must know how to get from one place to another, and the dog is the pilot, who gets them there safely.

5. How it all began. • References to guide dogs date at least as far back as the mid-16th century; the second line of the popular verse alphabet "A was an Archer" is most commonly "B was a Blind-man/Led by a dog" In the 19th century verse novel Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the title character remarks, "The blind man walks wherever the dog pulls/and so I answered".

6. The first guide dog training schools were established in Germany during World War I, to enhance the mobility of returning veterans who were blinded in combat. The United States followed suit in 1929 with The Seeing Eye in Nashville, Tennessee (relocated in 1931 to Morristown, New Jersey). One of the founders of The Seeing Eye was America's first guide dog owner, Nashville resident Morris Frank. Frank was trained with Buddy, a German Shepherd, in Switzerland in the year 1928.

7. The first guide dogs in Great Britain were German Shepherds. Three of these first were Judy, Meta and Folly, who were handed over to their new owners, veterans blinded in World War I, on October 6, 1931. Judy's new owner was Musgrave Frankland. In 1934, The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association in Great Britain commenced Morris Frank with Buddy operation. The first known attempt to train guide dogs happened at a hospital for the blind in Paris in 1780. In 1788, a sieve-maker in Vienna was said to have trained a dog so effectively for his own use that people mistook him for a sighted person.

8. In the 19th century, the concept of guide dog training made it into print. Johann Wilhelm Klein, the founder of a school for the blind in Vienna, wrote an 1819 textbook that describes the training of a guide dog using a rigid leash, although no one knows whether his theories were ever used. The modern guide dog movement, however, began with one remarkable German shepherd.“Even if the government did make it legal to allow dogs into public spaces like offices, malls, restaurants, etc, the infrastructure would let the disabled down. Further, despite India’s growing affection for pets, let’s face it, the majority of the population would not tolerate them in public and would certainly be uncooperative”

9. Important studies on the behaviour and training methods of guide dogs were conducted in the 1920s and 1930s by Jakob Von Uexkull and Emanuel Georg Sarris. They studied the nuances of guide dogs and introduced advanced methods of dog training.

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