Intro

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On September 11, 2001, Michael Hingson was on the 78th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center when a plane struck 15 floors above him. Blind since birth, Mr. Hingson was able to hear everything, yet see nothing. His dog, Roselle, flawlessly led Mr. Hingson through crowded, smoke-filled stairwells, and helped him navigate the chaotic streets below. When the South Tower collapsed covering the streets with ash and debris, His dog Roselle remained focused and listened to Michael’s commands. Roselle safely led Michael to a friend’s apartment in midtown Manhattan. He credits his miraculous survival to his partnership and teamwork he shared with his guide dog Roselle.

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Today I will like to talk to you about Guide Dogs for the Blind. I personally know a lot about Guide Dogs for the Blind since my family raised guide dog puppies for 5 years.

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Guide Dogs for the Blind was founded in December 1941 by Lois Merrihew and Don Donaldson. Little did Lois Merrihew know that what once was a childhood dream would turn into something much larger than she could have anticipated. It took a lot of effort and determination for Lois to accomplish her goal as she faced a lot of discrimination and discouragement for being a woman. She had persevere every step of the way, but this only made Lois stronger and she vowed to make her dream a reality.

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When blinded servicemen were returning from WWII, Lois partnered with Don Donaldson and together they worked with American Women’s Voluntary Services to start Guide Dogs for the Blind. It was incorporated on May 27, 1942 and began in a rented farmhouse with four donated German Shepherds and nine students. On June 1, 1942, Guide Dogs for the Blind had its first graduating class. Sgt. Leonard Foulk became the first graduate of the school, and was paired with a German Shepherd named Blondie. Since then, more than 10,000 guide dogs have graduated from the program.

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Now that we have taken a look at the history of Guide Dogs, let’s look at the stages in training.

Parfait, Parade, Passion, Pastel, Piccolo, Playa, Poko, Prestige-What do all these words have in common? They are the names of a litter of puppies. Guide Dogs for the Blind breeds and names their own puppies and no puppy can have the same name until it passes on, retires, or leaves the program. Needless to say, there are a lot of Guide Dogs puppies in training and Guide Dogs has had to get a little creative with their naming system.

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Puppy raisers receive a puppy when they are about 12 weeks old and raise them until they are about 15-18 months. Their main job is to socialize them and to teach them basic commands. As a raiser you take your puppy wherever you go, whether it is to the grocery store, mall, or on a plane to Vegas. They pretty much become part of your family and you do everything with them. Some examples of some commands you teach them are telling them to do would be the simple “sit, lie down” commands, along with teaching them to do their business on command, when to start walking, etc.

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When they are 15-18 months old, they go back to the institute for their formal training and pretty much go away to doggie college. This is when they receive physical health checks, and are trained by being introduced to a variety of challenging and difficult environments that they would encounter in real life situations.

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The formal training will last for about 4-5 months, and a Guide dog will be paired with a visually impaired partner at 11/2 to 2 years old. They then will train with their new partner for about 14-28 days.

Now that we have looked at the training process, I will now talk some of my experiences as a Guide Dog puppy raiser.


Being involved in Guide Dogs for five years has brought me so many memories and great experiences. If there was one thing I have learned as a puppy raiser is to always be prepared for the unexpected.

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The unexpected comes in so many forms. Although a guide dog puppy is bred for intelligence at the institute-I once had a puppy that would try to open the door-they are still dogs. And if you have dogs you know what I mean. There is Edra who has eaten everything from a wing bolt to my cell phone, Antonia who one time sniffed all the luggage in the airport and the passengers thought she was sniffing for narcotics. And then there is Ballou who once licked a bald man’s head in the movie theatre.

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And it doesn’t stop there. You have to keep have keep a constant eye on your puppy because you never know when there will be a kid sticking their fingers up your dog’s nose, or when your puppy is going to go to the bathroom while walking through Walmart, which happens a lot because you introduce your puppies to new places before they are even housebroken. All in all, it is a major commitment that takes a lot of hard work and patience. But in the end, it is amazing to see how far your puppy has come from the day you get them to the day that they graduate. They have the potential to do something great.

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In conclusion, guide dogs provide visually impaired people greater mobility that can significantly improve their quality of life.

As the story of September 11th survivor, Michael Hingson showed, Guide Dogs can perform heroic acts and even save lives. Trained almost from birth, guide dog puppies undergo extensive training before they are paired with their visually impaired partner. Working side by side, the visually impaired are able to accomplish more things than they even imagined.

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