Leader Dogs for the Blind
Encyclopedia
Leader Dogs for the Blind is a guide dog
training school located in Rochester Hills, Michigan
. It was founded in 1939 by Lions Club members, Charles Nutting, Don Schuur and S.A. Dodge , as the second guide dog school founded in the U.S.
Much like "seeing-eye dogs" from The Seeing Eye
, Leader Dogs's trained canines are called "leader dogs."
Leader Dogs is a nonprofit organization. All expenses, including room and board, airfare, and the dog itself, are offered free of charge. An Applicant, after being accepted into the program, travels to Leader Dogs headquarters and must spend from nineteen to twenty-six days of training with his or her new dog, after which the dog belongs to the applicant officially.
Leader Dogs employs a breeding program to supply dogs, consisting mostly of pure bred Labrador
and Golden Retriever
s and German Shepherd Dogs. Dogs donated from the general public and animal shelters, who are of fitting physical and mental character, are also sometimes accepted. Additionally, through a partnership with service
and hearing dog
organization Paws With A Cause
, dogs unsuited for the work of their respective programs may be "career changed" to another program.
However, the Lions Club members did find individual trainers of dogs, one in particular named Glen Staines, who trained Doberman Pinchers. He was hired on October 6, 1938 to train as many as four dogs for a price of eight hundred dollars. If students could not be found, then the agreement would be terminated, and the Lions Club would have to keep two of the dogs. They did find four students: Dr. Wheeler, Earl Morrey, William Joyce, and Paul Brown. After hearing about the cause, the Park Avenue Hotel in downtown Detroit offered free accommodations for the students learning to handle their dogs. Soon the club needed a name for their mounting project. They had dogs, a trainer, students, and a place to house these students, something they had not even imagined.
To find a suitable name, a four-page report was sent out to every single member of Lions International. Over 500 names were sent back as suggestions. "Lions Leader" was the name selected, and printed in the newspapers on December 14, 1938. In February of 1939, all four Doberman Pinchers were placed with their new owners. The club wanted to expand their help beyond the actual club, and on April 4, 1939 the "Lion's Leader Dog Foundation" was initiated. To get the new school off the ground, an actual facility was needed. A small farm in Rochester Hills, Michigan was selected. On the property were a house, a barn, and a small garage, which were all rented for fifty dollars a month.
The name was changed to "Leader Dog League for the Blind" in 1940, and during the first year eighteen dogs were placed with blind students. Despite many hardships, the school stayed open and was helped tremendously by the number of blind veterans returning from World War II. The blind were requesting dogs for their new lives and businesses began to hire the blind, as it was discovered that many blind could carry on normal jobs. The United States government eventually promised federal funds to all guide dog schools and these schools began to pop up everywhere around the country. Today, Leader Dogs for the Blind helps pair hundreds of dogs with the visually impaired.
Guide dog
Guide dogs are assistance dogs trained to lead blind and visually impaired people around obstacles.Although the dogs can be trained to navigate various obstacles, they are partially color blind and are not capable of interpreting street signs...
training school located in Rochester Hills, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. It was founded in 1939 by Lions Club members, Charles Nutting, Don Schuur and S.A. Dodge , as the second guide dog school founded in the U.S.
Much like "seeing-eye dogs" from The Seeing Eye
The Seeing Eye
The Seeing Eye, Inc. is a guide dog school that is located in Morristown, New Jersey in the United States. It was founded in 1929 as the first guide dog school in the country...
, Leader Dogs's trained canines are called "leader dogs."
Leader Dogs is a nonprofit organization. All expenses, including room and board, airfare, and the dog itself, are offered free of charge. An Applicant, after being accepted into the program, travels to Leader Dogs headquarters and must spend from nineteen to twenty-six days of training with his or her new dog, after which the dog belongs to the applicant officially.
Leader Dogs employs a breeding program to supply dogs, consisting mostly of pure bred Labrador
Labrador Retriever
The Labrador Retriever is one of several kinds of retriever, a type of gun dog. A breed characteristic is webbed paws for swimming, useful for the breed's original purpose of retrieving fishing nets. The Labrador is the most popular breed of dog by registered ownership in Canada, the United...
and Golden Retriever
Golden Retriever
The Golden Retriever is a medium-sized breed of dog. They were historically developed as gundogs to retrieve shot waterfowl such as ducks and upland game birds during hunting and shooting parties. As such, they were bred to have a soft mouth to retrieve game undamaged and have an instinctive love...
s and German Shepherd Dogs. Dogs donated from the general public and animal shelters, who are of fitting physical and mental character, are also sometimes accepted. Additionally, through a partnership with service
Service dog
A service dog is a type of assistance dog specifically trained to help people who have disabilities including visual or hearing impairment, and also to help people with mental disabilities including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and severe depression...
and hearing dog
Hearing dog
A hearing dog is a specific type of assistance dog specifically selected and trained to assist people who are deaf or hearing impaired by alerting their handler to important sounds, such as doorbells, smoke alarms, ringing telephones, or alarm clocks...
organization Paws With A Cause
Paws With A Cause
Paws With A Cause is a non-profit organization that trains assistance dogs for the people with disabilities. Founded in 1979 by Michael Sapp, Sr., it was originally called "Ears for the Deaf," and specialized in hearing dogs...
, dogs unsuited for the work of their respective programs may be "career changed" to another program.
History
In the summer of 1938, the Uptown Detroit Lions Club members gathered to discuss the future of Dr. Glenn Wheeler, a blind man who had shown interest in obtaining a personal guide dog. They decided to pay all of the expenses for the man and contacted the only school in America at the time for guide dogs, The Seeing Eye. The club was turned down because of the schools policy, which stated that individuals could not be sponsored by clubs or organizations, but that the contributions must go into the school as a whole, to be used where needed. This was an initial setback.However, the Lions Club members did find individual trainers of dogs, one in particular named Glen Staines, who trained Doberman Pinchers. He was hired on October 6, 1938 to train as many as four dogs for a price of eight hundred dollars. If students could not be found, then the agreement would be terminated, and the Lions Club would have to keep two of the dogs. They did find four students: Dr. Wheeler, Earl Morrey, William Joyce, and Paul Brown. After hearing about the cause, the Park Avenue Hotel in downtown Detroit offered free accommodations for the students learning to handle their dogs. Soon the club needed a name for their mounting project. They had dogs, a trainer, students, and a place to house these students, something they had not even imagined.
To find a suitable name, a four-page report was sent out to every single member of Lions International. Over 500 names were sent back as suggestions. "Lions Leader" was the name selected, and printed in the newspapers on December 14, 1938. In February of 1939, all four Doberman Pinchers were placed with their new owners. The club wanted to expand their help beyond the actual club, and on April 4, 1939 the "Lion's Leader Dog Foundation" was initiated. To get the new school off the ground, an actual facility was needed. A small farm in Rochester Hills, Michigan was selected. On the property were a house, a barn, and a small garage, which were all rented for fifty dollars a month.
The name was changed to "Leader Dog League for the Blind" in 1940, and during the first year eighteen dogs were placed with blind students. Despite many hardships, the school stayed open and was helped tremendously by the number of blind veterans returning from World War II. The blind were requesting dogs for their new lives and businesses began to hire the blind, as it was discovered that many blind could carry on normal jobs. The United States government eventually promised federal funds to all guide dog schools and these schools began to pop up everywhere around the country. Today, Leader Dogs for the Blind helps pair hundreds of dogs with the visually impaired.