GUIDE DOG

also called Seeing Eye Dog (after Seeing Eye, Inc., of Morristown, N.J.), dog that is professionally trained to guide and protect its blind master. Systematic training of guide dogs originated in Germany during World War I to aid blinded veterans. At the age of approximately one year, the dog is trained for three to four months to mold the animal's behaviour to its owner's handicap. The dog learns to adjust to a harness, stop at curbs, gauge its owner's height when traveling in low or obstructed places, and disobey a command when obedience will endanger its master. Although several breeds, including Doberman pinschers and retrievers, have been educated as guide dogs, German shepherds are the most widely used.