Use of guide dogs over the last 75 years!

75 years ago in 1931 a journey of faith began in Wallasey, Cheshire, when four blind pioneers Allen Caldwell, G W Lamb, Musgrave Frankland and Thomas Ap Rhys took the first tentative steps into a new world of opportunity with four very special German Shepherd dogs; Flash, Meta, Judy and Folly – the first guide dogs to walk the streets of the UK.

The first partnership between a dog and a blind person is lost in the midst of time. However, one of the earliest known examples to man is depicted in a first-century AD mural in the buried ruins of Heculaneum, near Pompeii in Italy.The first formally recorded training of guide dogs was started in Germany during the First World War by Dr Gerhard Stalling who began training German Shepherd dogs to help soldiers blinded at the Front.

In 1928, Mrs Dorothy Eustis, an American trainer of police and army dogs, established her own centre called “L’Oeil qui Voit” (The Seeing Eye) in Vevy, Switzerland. In 1930, two British German Shepherd enthusiasts, Muriel Crooke and Rosamund Bond contacted Eustis, having read an article she wrote about L’Oeil qui Voit, to see if a scheme could be introduced into Britain. Eustis sent over one of her dog trainers, William Debatez, who arrived in England on 01 July 1931. It was decided to conduct the trial scheme near Muriel Crooke’s home.

A piece of land and garage were rented in the New Brighton area of Wallasey and so began the journey of faith by four blind pioneers Allen Caldwell, G W Lamb, Musgrave Frankland and Thomas Ap Rhys who took the first tentative steps into a new world of opportunity. Their four very special German Shepherd companions were; Flash, Meta, Judy and Folly – the first guide dogs to walk the streets of the UK.

The independence, liberty and freedom the pioneers found was profoundly described six months later by each of those first four guide dog owners who qualified in October 1931.'Flash has revolutionised my outdoor life’, wrote Allen Caldwell. ‘Not only has my dog given me glorious freedom and independence, never known since pre-war days, but delightful companionship.' 'After negotiating an obstacle,' wrote G W Lamb, 'we went away merrily, the crowd saying what a good dog it was.’Musgrave Frankland declared simply, '

A guide dog is almost equal in many ways to giving a blind man sight itself, Judith has been worth her weight in gold ...I would not be without her for a day.''With Folly,’ wrote Thomas Ap Rhys, 'I do not mind walking at the fastest pace or even running with her.’ He was to use guide dogs for the next 48 years and died in 1979 at the age of 82 while retraining with his sixth dog.In 1932 Russian Captain Nikolai Liakhoff, a trainer from L’Oeil qui Voit, arrived in the UK and was instrumental in the successful development of guide dog training in the country.

In 1934 The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association was founded. /moreGuide dog owner Derek Beauchamp, 74, from Birkenhead, Cheshire, has been a guide dog owner for over 50 years. Derek and his first guide dog, Simon, were trained under the watchful eye of Liakhoff who qualified them as a partnership in February 1954.Derek remembers: ”Liakhoff had an amazing understanding of animals which helped him to achieve his incredibly high standards of training. He was a perfectionist and dedicated to his work.”

Describing the importance of the matching of a guide dog and its visually impaired owner, Liakhoff once wrote: ‘Many people consider that the Association's main work is in training dogs and that once the dog is trained everything is practically accomplished. This is not so. The preparation of the dog ...may be compared with the making of a surgical instrument; it is very necessary, but in itself only a preliminary. The joining of the man and dog into one inseparable unit is the Association's real work, comparable not with tool-making but with skilled surgery, because it brings ...healing and relief.'

Olga Bibikoff, grand-daughter of Captain Nikolai Liakhoff, is helping the charity to mark the special 75th anniversary. Says Olga: “It’s been a wonderful experience to delve so deeply into the history of my family’s involvement with guide dog training. I am extremely proud of my grandfather’s work. His ambition was to help blind and partially-sighted people and he left a priceless legacy of transforming thousands of lives.”

In 1941 the first official training centre was established in Leamington Spa – the start of a process which is today reflected in the charity’s 29 district teams – and in 1970 a purpose built breeding centre was opened at Tollgate House, near Warwick. Although the concept of guide dog training began with German Shepherds, the breeds now most commonly used by the charity are Golden Retrievers and Labradors, and first crosses of those.Seventy-five years on from those pioneering days in the lock-up garages in Wallasey, The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association is the world's largest breeder and trainer of assistance dogs.

There are currently around 4,700 working guide dog partnerships in the UK including a handful of dual-purpose hearing and guide dogs, born out of a partnerhsip between Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association to assist deaf-blind people. Around 1,000 guide dog pups are born in the homes of the charity’s 210 volunteer brood bitch holders every year.Over the next few years, the development of a new puppy breeding centre and investment in new dog supply units will ensure the best possible guide dogs for the future.

It will also enable the charity to increase its capacity as it reaches out to a diverse mix of visually impaired people in every corner of the country.The charity will continue to meet the changing needs of blind and partially-sighted people. This will include visually-impaired people with additional disabilites through collaborative work with other Assistance Dogs UK organisations, such as Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.Angela Hassall, from Crewe in Cheshire, has been deaf since she was eight years old and more recently began to lose her sight. She is now the very proud owner of the first-ever dual purpose guide and hearing dog, Roddy.Angela says: “Roddy has given me a new lease of life.

My future is much brighter than it was, and I am so much happier because of him. He means so much to me – he is my ears and eyes. He is a very special dog.”There are many extraordinary partnerships within Guide Dogs that work together to enable lives to be transformed. From volunteer brood bitch holders, puppy walkers and boarders to trainers and mobility instructors; from local community fundraisers and branch members to corporate sponsors. Every partnership helps Guide Dogs to give visually impaired people back a life-transforming degree of independence, confidence and freedom of mobility they may have not thought possible.

The charity will be marking this milestone in UK history with memorable displays in the Crufts’ Special Events Ring on Friday 10 March at 2.45pm and Saturday 11 March at 1.25pm.Says Bridget Warr, chief executive of Guide Dogs: “We are very much looking forward to bringing our celebrations to Crufts, and dog-lovers from all over the world, to mark this milestone in UK history.”Stephen Kirk, the charity’s operations director comments: “We will continue to concentrate on the future needs of blind and partially-sighted people in order to provide the best possible Guide Dogs’ service for many years to come.”