Cuddly service dog puppies and their volunteer puppy-raiser families appeal to the animal lover in us. But a career as a guide dog for the blind isn’t a job every canine is cut out for. Guide work is rigorous and uncompromising, and unlike many service dog jobs, missteps can be life-threatening.
Guide dog schools in the U. S. whelp about 2,500 puppies annually, with less than 50 percent going on to partner with blind people.
Here is a look at those working dog superheroes from the other end of the leash. Seven veteran blind guide dog handlers compared their experience with 36 dogs representing six breeds: Labrador retriever, golden retriever, German shepherd, Australian shepherd, Airedale, and flat coated retriever; two hybrids, poodle x Labrador retriever, Labrador retriever x golden retriever; two Lab mixes; and one border collie mix.
Respectful Disobedience
Although German shepherds, Labrador retrievers, and golden retrievers are the most familiar guide dog breeds, any confident, friendly, intelligent, and willing dog, large enough for the harness but small enough to lie comfortably under a bus seat, is eligible for the work.
Guide dogs, regardless of lineage, have distinct counter-canine intuitive characteristics in common. They must be able to generalize to new complicated situations, perform spectacular feats of disobedience, and do it all without reinforcement because their blind handlers often don’t know what it is they’ve done.
One woman explained, “Because we can’t see, we don’t know the particulars of what we’re commanding our dogs to do. The dog must stand up to us and communicate that something is there that we don’t know about, then find a way to get us out of a dangerous situation. A dog that isn’t comfortable holding his ground isn’t suited to the job.”
Are there marked breed differences in a dog’s approach to guide work, or do the traits that make them good guides neutralize the larger behaviors that characterize the breed?
“A dog that isn’t comfortable holding his ground isn’t suited to the job.“
A New Jersey resident who, over decades, has partnered with a German shepherd, Labrador retriever, two golden retrievers and a golden x Lab cross admits that there are some physical characteristics that are different among breeds – the gait and how the dog feels through the harness.
Handlers report that Shepherds walk with smooth determination, whereas Labs have a wiggle in their walk. One handler described her golden retriever guides as elegant and graceful. “Even so,” she said, “The dog’s unique personality, combined with the person’s, how they work together and what they expect of each other – that’s where the differences are.”
Watching blind travelers confidently make their way through busy city traffic, you might assume that the dog is leading the person. In actuality, the person directs the dog with commands. The cornerstone of the work is that the dog, trained through repetition and praise to learn to judge the speed and distance of moving vehicles, will disobey the human partner’s command and signal through the rigid harness if it’s unsafe to go forward.
Another person who’s worked with one Lab, two mixed breed Labs, two golden retrievers, and more recently partnered with a Lab x poodle cross said, “It’s a 50/50 relationship. Neither one of us is in total control at any given time. Both of our lives depend on what the other one does. Neither of us may be able to make a safe street crossing alone, but together, we do it gracefully.”
Problem-solving approach
Taught to allow for the person’s height and width, the dog can make a decision to walk around or under obstacles or stop to ask for input as if to say, “Here is an overturned garbage can. Which way would you like to go?” In addition, dogs learn to safely maneuver flights of steps, elevators, escalators, and public transportation.
“How my dogs dealt with obstacles isn’t, in my opinion, a function of breed-specific differences,” explained a seasoned handler who has worked with an Airedale, border collie mix, Australian shepherd and had a brief experience with a Siberian husky. “My Airedale, as I recall him, was quick to generalize about the concept ‘obstacle’ but wasn’t particularly good at scoping out his environment and making decisions in advance.”
The Aussies seemed to generalize quickly. He added, “The border collie mix was by far the very best dog I’ve worked with when it came to overhead hazards.”
A woman who divides her time working at several nonprofits that require travel and public speaking has worked with two shepherds and one Lab x Golden Cross. She explained, “In my opinion, you might say that the retrievers’ style provides more information about the specifics of the environment, but the shepherd’s style makes for more efficient travel.”
She remarked, “My shepherds, in comparison to my retriever, both typically looked farther ahead as they guided. They corrected for upcoming obstacles from a distance and our travel path was typically a smooth line. Sudden turns or stops happened only in response to an obstacle that unexpectedly crossed our intended path.” She continued, “My retriever cross clearly does not take the same approach. In general, this dog will stop and show me the obstacle and he will almost always seek prompting from me on which way to go next.”
Another typical difference is their approach to routes. A California handler said, “Personally, I find that my retrievers enjoyed familiar routes. In comparison, my shepherd gets bored with routine, so you must get creative with routes and mix things up.”
She added that retrievers are looking to please the handler as if asking, “Did I do what you wanted? Am I making you happy?” whereas her shepherds have been motivated by doing the job and solving the problems. “With shepherds, it’s not so much about what pleases me as it is about pleasing themselves.”
A blind woman who operates a gift shop in Colorado Springs has worked with three Labs, one Lab mix, one golden retriever, and one shepherd. She said, “If I were to generalize, I’d say my Labs often worked up to an obstacle before deciding what to do about it, while my shepherd would decide in advance what to do, perhaps starting the turn more gradually as we approached the barrier. My golden would stop to show me before trying to work it out.”
Eight guide dogs and thirty-four years later, a handler from the East Coast contemplated her experiences with four Labs, two goldens, one shepherd, and one flat-coated retriever. She remarked, “My flat coat solved problems by coming to a full stop. Sometimes, he would just stand there, and I could feel his head moving. People said that he looked like he was weighing all the possibilities. Then, he would make his decision. And in nine years of working together, he never made a mistake.”
Another long-time guide dog handler got her first German shepherd after working for many years with three Labs. She said she had to learn the body language that was unique to the shepherd. “At first, I thought when my shepherd would insist on going a certain way, and I wanted to go another, she was stubborn or willful. I soon discovered that if I acknowledged her for what she was showing me and then asked her to go in the direction I wanted to go, she was totally fine with that. My second shepherd was the same way.”
Relationships based on trust
There are legitimate reasons why someone might prefer one breed over another. However, regardless of genealogy, everyone agreed that each individual dog takes a unique approach to problem-solving.
A guide dog handler since 1987 responded, “None of my dogs would miss head-height man-made obstacles like scaffolding, metal stairs, and sagging awnings, but sometimes they’d miss the natural ones such as tree limbs.”
She added, “My goldens were much more attuned to my reactions to things. If I did hit a branch, I needed only to flinch, and they both acted as if they had been corrected. I would describe my Labrador as being solid, but she had the attitude that things would move for her, or she would move them. She was careful generally but also had no compunction about moving me through some tight gaps. It wasn’t always pretty, but she would get you where you needed to go safely and with enthusiasm.”
Person and dog work as a team, each contributing to a relationship built on trust that deepens and broadens over time. “Working a guide dog is like dancing,” explained one handler. “And being responsive to my partner’s moves is how it works best for me. I’ve had two large black Labs with a lot of initiative. They seldom asked for my input, made quick, swift movements, and expected I would be able to keep up and go with them. They were more likely to try to interpose their bodies between me and muscle me out of the way or into safety. My golden and my small Lab were likely to be cautious and refuse to leave the curb until they determined that a car they watched was not going to move toward us.”
“My dogs have all had a high degree of work ethic.“
No matter how solid an argument can be made for or against breed differences, the flip side is that guide dogs are, to a great extent, bred for a personality that makes them more like each other than they are like their breed. They may look different, but they’ve been bred and selected by guide dog schools to be friendly, loyal, and loving, with a desire to serve and please. They have a profound sense of responsibility.
One handler added, “The thing all my dogs have had in common is a good disposition, a willingness to do what I asked or required, and they all lacked what I call ‘volatility.’ None were fearful or shy, and though my Aussie started out being extraordinarily aloof, they’ve all been able to accept things like having strangers hanging their legs over them in planes or on buses with good grace.”
He remarked, “I’d also contend my dogs have all had a high degree of work ethic. None have ever shut down on me despite having to work in some very challenging situations.”
One insightful individual who has partnered with six guide dogs in as many decades remarked, “Throughout my life, I’ve owned two Pomeranians, two collies, a cocker spaniel, a yellow Lab, a terrier mix, two poodles, and a couple of Chihuahuas as pets. All of my guide dogs, though, seemed to own me rather than the other way around.”
