1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:05,200 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: show that gives a quick look it's something that happened 4 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:18,319 Speaker 1: a long time ago. Today I'm Gabe Lucier and in 5 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: this episode, we're talking about the history of seeing eye dogs, 6 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:26,480 Speaker 1: a cogent reminder that the canine species is man's best 7 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:35,840 Speaker 1: friend for a reason. The day was January twenty ninth, 8 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:40,879 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty nine, the Seeing I was established as the 9 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 1: first guide dog training school in the United States. It's 10 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: hard to say for exactly how long dogs have been 11 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: helping blind humans, but based on ancient artwork dating as 12 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: far back as the first century, it seems the partnership 13 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: is a very old one. Indeed, however, guide dog didn't 14 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: become part of the medical establishment until the seventeen fifties, 15 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: when a Paris hospital for the blind began training them systematically. 16 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: Within a few decades, the practice spread to Austria, where 17 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: a trainer named Johann Wilhelm Klein developed one of the 18 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:21,319 Speaker 1: first formalized methods for instructing guide dogs. His breeds of 19 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:24,680 Speaker 1: choice were shepherds and poodles, and while you don't see 20 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:28,399 Speaker 1: too many guide poodles. Today, German shepherds are still one 21 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,480 Speaker 1: of the most popular breeds for training. Klein also came 22 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,400 Speaker 1: up with the idea of using a stiff harness system 23 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: to make a blind person more attuned to their dog's movements. 24 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:43,040 Speaker 1: As he explained in a textbook he wrote on the subject, quote, 25 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,480 Speaker 1: a rigid connection allows the person to feel when a 26 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: dog is making a side movement or standing still, something 27 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: that a soft leash cannot accomplish. Klein's pioneering techniques helped 28 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: pave the way for the modern guide dog movement that 29 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: began in Europe. In the night eighteen twenties. After the 30 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: First World War, thousands of German soldiers returned home blinded 31 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:11,080 Speaker 1: or visually impaired, usually by mustard gas. This prompted the 32 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: creation of experimental training schools where dogs were taught helpful 33 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 1: skills to help blind veterans live more independently. Around the 34 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,399 Speaker 1: same time, a wealthy American dog trainer named Dorothy Harrison 35 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: Eustace was busy setting up a training facility of her 36 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: own in Switzerland. She'd been hired to breed and train 37 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 1: German shepherds for the Swiss Army, and in nineteen twenty seven, 38 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,279 Speaker 1: she paid a visit to a dog training clinic in Potsdam, 39 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 1: Germany to compare techniques. Eustace was blown away by the 40 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,360 Speaker 1: training exercises she observed there, so much so that she 41 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 1: wrote an article about the experience for the Saturday Evening Post. 42 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,679 Speaker 1: She concluded the piece with a full throated endorsement of 43 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:58,359 Speaker 1: the German guide dog model, writing quote, no longer dependent 44 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:00,960 Speaker 1: on a member of the family, a friend, or a 45 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: paid attendant, the blind can once more take up their 46 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: normal lives as nearly as possible where they left them off. 47 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 1: Each can begin or go back to a wage earning occupation, 48 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:14,360 Speaker 1: secure in the knowledge that he can get to and 49 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: from his work safely and without costs, that crowds in 50 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: traffic have no longer any terrors for him, and that 51 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: his evenings can be spent among friends without responsibility or burden. 52 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: And last, but far from least, that long, healthful walks 53 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: are now possible to exercise off the unhealthy fat of inactivity, 54 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: and so keep the body strong and fit. Gentlemen, Again, 55 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 1: without reservation, I give you the shepherd Dog. That article, 56 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: titled the Seeing Eye, garnered considerable attention in the US, 57 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: especially among blind people who wanted to know how they 58 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: could obtain a trained guide dog of their own. Among 59 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: those interested parties was Morris Frank, a nineteen year old 60 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: from Nashville, Tennessee, who had been blinded in two separate accidents. 61 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:08,640 Speaker 1: Frustrated by his lack of mobility and his dependence on others, 62 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: Frank wrote a letter to Eustace asking for her help 63 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: train me. He implored, and I will bring back my 64 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: dog and show people here how a blind man can 65 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 1: be absolutely on his own. The problem with his request 66 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,359 Speaker 1: was that Eustace had never trained a guide dog before. 67 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: Her specialty was police dogs. Still, she was moved by 68 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: Frank's letter and agreed to help as best she could. 69 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,919 Speaker 1: For the next several months, Eustace worked with her partner 70 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 1: at the facility, Eliot S. Jack Humphrey, on adapting their 71 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:43,719 Speaker 1: training regimen to better suit the needs of a blind person. 72 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 1: Once they had it all worked out, they began training 73 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: a dog for Frank, a female German shepherd named Buddy. 74 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: Frank joined them in Switzerland in April of nineteen twenty 75 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:57,400 Speaker 1: eight and spent the next six weeks training with Buddy 76 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,240 Speaker 1: to learn how to work together to navigate the world. 77 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: When the course was complete, the newly bonded pair returned 78 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,119 Speaker 1: to the US, where Buddy made headlines as the first 79 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:11,239 Speaker 1: formally trained guide dog in the country. Not long after, 80 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: reporters asked Frank how having a guide dog had improved 81 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:18,040 Speaker 1: his life, and he provided them with a pretty compelling answer. 82 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: With Buddy at his side, Frank gave a public demonstration 83 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: by walking across one of New York's most hazardous thoroughfares, 84 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 1: West Street, or as it's known to locals, Death Avenue. 85 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: The pair made it through without a scratch, and Frank 86 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: sent a one word celebratory telegram to the woman who 87 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: had made it possible. It said, simply success. Buoyed by 88 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: the positive press, Frank worked with Eustace to form a 89 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 1: guide dog training school right in his hometown of Nashville. 90 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: The organization, dubbed the Seeing Eye after her article, was 91 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 1: officially formed on January twenty ninth, nineteen twenty nine, and 92 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:59,599 Speaker 1: the first class was held the following month. It took 93 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: some time time for people to warm up to the 94 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: idea of dogs leading people through public places, but Frank 95 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,119 Speaker 1: and Buddy gradually won them over, and little by little, 96 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:11,840 Speaker 1: Seeing Eye dogs became a common sight in the US. 97 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: In nineteen thirty one, two years after founding The Seeing 98 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:20,479 Speaker 1: I in Nashville, Frank relocated the organization to Whippany, New Jersey, 99 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,039 Speaker 1: where he felt the climate would be more conducive to 100 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:27,279 Speaker 1: dog training. The school remained there until the late nineteen sixties, 101 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: when it moved again to its current headquarters in Morris Township, 102 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: New Jersey. Since its founding, The Seeing I has partnered 103 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 1: nearly twenty thousand specially trained dogs with blind or visually 104 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,919 Speaker 1: impaired people in the US and Canada, and while it 105 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: may be the oldest operating guide dog school in the world, 106 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:49,160 Speaker 1: it's still going strong, teaching new tricks to this day. 107 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:55,679 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you now know a little 108 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you 109 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: have a second and you're so inclined, consider keeping up 110 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can find 111 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: us at TDI HC Show. You can also rate or 112 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you can get 113 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: in touch directly by writing to This Day at iHeartMedia 114 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 115 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening I'll see you back here 116 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in history class.