Dorothy Eustis: Founder

Dorothy Harrison Eustis changed the lives of thousands of blind people when she founded the oldest guide dog organization in the United States. This week we celebrate International Guide Dog Day on April 26, 2023.

Before 1929 ,there was no such thing as guide dogs for the blind population in the United States and living with blindness often meant being reliant on others. The white cane had yet to be invented.

But that year, a revolution began with the founding of The Seeing Eye, the first organization in the country that would train dogs specifically to become “the eyes” of blind humans, in essence giving people who could not see, a chance to live a more independent life.

Dorothy Harrison Eustis, born May 30, 1886, was the founder of The Seeing Eye. She knew more about cows than dogs when she began breeding and training dogs. Eustis and her first husband, Walter Woods, had spent nearly a decade working with the New York State Agricultural Department to develop an experimental breeding program for cattle on their Hoosick Falls farm. During that time, she would acquire Hans, a German Shepherd who would later become an inspiration for her efforts to train guide dogs.

By 1921, Eustis had remarried after Woods’ death. She and her new husband relocated to Europe to open Fortunate Fields, a dog breeding operation in Vevey, Switzerland. The German Shepherds they bred were also being trained for the Swiss Army, customs officers and police. The breed was well-suited for tracking and finding lost and missing persons.

Several years and dozens of dogs later, Eustis visited a dog training program in Potsdam, Germany. Their canines were helping soldiers who had lost their sight in World War I regain their independence, mobility and confidence. A skeptic when she arrived, Eustis left the program astonished and inspired by what specially trained dogs could do for their human friends.

In passionate detail, Eustis wrote about the German guide dog program for the November 27, 1927 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, one of the most popular magazines of the time. The article prompted an avalanche of mail from people who were interested in the program. One letter came from 19-year-old Morris Frank. At age six he had lost sight in his right eye in a horseback riding accident. At 16, a boxing match blinded his left eye. With years of life still ahead of him, Frank was enthusiastic about finding a canine companion to help him overcome his disability.

Frank immediately wrote to Eustis: “Is what you say really true? If so, I want one of those dogs! And I am not alone. Thousands of blind like me abhor being dependent on others. Help me and I will help them. Train me and I will bring back my dog and show people here how a blind man can be absolutely on his own.”

Eustis wasn’t thinking of training guide dogs for the blind, but moved by Frank’s situation, she invited him to visit her program in Switzerland. By the time he arrived in April 1929, she was teaching two of her dogs some of the commands she had witnessed in Potsdam. Frank spent the next several weeks learning how to navigate the small town of Vevey with his trainers and Buddy, a young female German Shepherd.

Their training was completed by June and Frank and Buddy headed home. Arriving in New York City, they were greeted by a crowd of reporters who clamored for a demonstration. Without any knowledge of big city traffic, crowds and noise, Frank was unsure whether Buddy could handle the new environment. But the pair navigated the press scrum and then crossed busy West Street without incident. “Success,” Frank telegrammed Eustis. Buddy, he told reporters, was “his declaration of independence.”

Frank kept his word about promoting guide dogs and he and Buddy began to speak at events around the country. The positive response led Eustis and Frank to co-found The Seeing Eye on January 29, 1929. It was America’s first guide dog training and breeding organization. First located in Frank’s hometown of Nashville, it eventually found a permanent home in Morristown, New Jersey.

Frank became its managing director and devoted his life to promoting guide dogs for the blind. He advocated for guide dogs to be given equal access to public places and his efforts played a role in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. He also pioneered guide dogs on airplanes and trains. In one of their final trips in May 1938, Buddy became the first guide dog to fly on a commercial airliner—flying coach on United Airlines from Chicago to Newark.

Dorothy Harrison Eustis was The Seeing Eye’s first president who shaped the guide dog field in the United States. Her remarkable background as a dog breeder, trainer and visionary improved the lives of thousands of people. In the 1930s, as The Seeing Eye was getting off the ground, she sent dogs and trainers to Italy, Great Britain and France so those countries could establish their own guide dog schools. The training curriculum she created set the standard for guide dog schools that opened in other parts of this country as well.

Not only did Eustis succeed in giving back blind people more control of their lives, she also changed the image of the blind in popular culture. In 1979, the United States Postal Service issued “The Seeing Eye” stamp. In 1984, Disney released “Love Leads the Way”, a movie about The Seeing Eye. And in 2020, the seeing eye dog became the official dog of New Jersey.

The Seeing Eye is still in existence. In 2023, it graduated its 18,000th human-canine team. German shepherds are no longer the only breed of dogs that are used for guide work today. Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers, and Lab/golden mixes are also bred to fill the demand. The training today has adjusted to new technologies such as electric cars which are quieter and harder for dogs and humans to detect.

©2023 Alice Look
Co-founder, Remarkable Women Project.org
Executive Producer, Remarkable Women Project