By Rachael Moore
Seeing Eye dogs are familiar sights around Morristown, and it’s tempting to ask their handlers: “Oh, how cute, can I pat your dog?”
But everyone should remember that these remarkable animals are in the middle of working a “9 to 5” day at the office.
To learn more about The Seeing Eye, founded in 1929, a handful of people endured the rain on Saturday morning to take a stroll around the Green that kicked off the Morris Tourism Bureau’s Summer Walking Tours.
Leading the walk was The Seeing Eye’s president and CEO, Jim Kutsch, with his almost-2-year-old German shepherd, Vegas; and Jim’s wife, Ginger Kutsch, and her 5-year-old German shepherd, Pixie.
Jim and Ginger, residents of Morristown who are legally blind, shared lots of information with the group about the history of The Seeing Eye and what happens before a dog becomes part of a blind person’s life.
German shepherds, Labrador- and golden retrievers, and Lab/ golden mixes are the breeds most commonly trained for guide duty.
The Seeing Eye website explains how it all started in 1927:
Morris Frank read an article about dogs being trained as guides for blinded veterans of World War I. Frustrated by his own lack of mobility as a blind person, he was inspired to write to its author for help. Dorothy Harrison Eustis was an American training German shepherd dogs in Switzerland, and when she received Morris Frank’s letter, she agreed to help him. He promised he would return to the United States and spread the word about these wonderful dogs. In 1928, having completed instruction in Switzerland, he arrived in New York City, proving the ability of his dog Buddy before throngs of news reporters. His one-word telegram to Mrs. Eustis told the entire story…“Success.”
Since then, The Seeing Eye has helped thousands of people throughout the United States and Canada from its home in Morris Township.
It starts with the “Raise a Puppy” program. For 15 months, a foster family loves and cares for a puppy, teaching it simple obedience and social skills before it’s ready for Seeing Eye training.
That four-month training process is made up of 35 instructors who are paired with 10 dogs each.
“They give them lots of exposure to different environments,” said Jim. “They are taught to solve the problem ahead of them by giving the dog the target and having it decide what is best for the owner’s safety.”
He explained that this method is more effective because if the handler is telling his dog to walk forward, and there is a pothole in front of them, the dog can best assess the situation by going around the pothole instead of causing a trip or a fall for the handler.
After the course with their sighted instructors, the dogs get matched with blind persons.
“People think that when a blind person walks into the room the next dog in line gets matched up with them. But that’s not how it works,” Ginger said. Handlers and dogs are put together according to walking speed, height, strength, compatibility and lifestyle.
But these dogs don’t spend all their time working hard with their owners. At the end of the day, they are normal dogs that want to play and be petted.
“We praise them when they do something right and scold them when they do something wrong,” Jim shared.
Ginger chimed in: “Yes, especially when they leave their squeaky toys at the top of the stairs and cause a hazard for tripping.”
Karen Brunner, a resident of the Morristown area, can relate to this because she has two dogs at home, a white German shepherd and a pit bull mix.
The tour, she said, “was extremely informative because I always saw these dogs, but I never knew anything about them.”
Karen acknowledged that her dogs have very different standards than the Seeing Eye pups.
“It made it more real,seeing Jim and Ginger walking with their dogs and hearing from them personally. I loved it!”
As the saying goes, “a dog is a man’s best friend.” Nowhere is that more true than at The Seeing Eye.
Rachael Moore of Morris Township is majoring in communications at Adelphi University, where she will be a senior this fall.
MORRIS TOURISM BUREAU SUMMER WALKING TOURS
Tours start at 10 am, 6 Court St., Morristown (except Denville tour)
Cost: $12. For reservations, call 973-631-5151
July 20: Secrets and Lore of the Gilded Age of Morristown
July 27: Happy 100th Birthday, Denville!
(Denville Historical Society Museum, 109 Diamond Spring Road)
Aug. 3: The Trial of the (19th) Century: Antoine LeBlanc
Aug. 10: Thomas Nast’s Morristown (1872-1902)
