Leader Dogs for the Blind

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 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. To date, Leader Dogs for the Blind has paired over 14,000 dogs with the visually impaired and continues to serve clients around the world.

• [Leader dogs were great with my first dog when I went back for my second dog I had my dog 3 days they said I hit my dog and took my dog away from me that was not the case the trainer at dinner time had treats in her pocket so my dog was trying to get into her lap. I told the dog no no and tapped it on the nose with my pointer finger, that night they called me in and I said that I tapped it once and you are taking my dog and you are taking my dog that I only had for 2 days. My trainer did not meet me at the airport a volunteer did and I was also given a master key nobody told me that everything had changed from 12 years ago, but they were flying me out the next day. Since they already had my dog and my ticket ready It was during the Iraq war so I told the trainer that beware Gi's once in combat a lot of them come back with PTSD which I should not have said and that the divorce rate was like 80 present which I should not have said but I was leaving aways and very upset. I would not hurt a fly. I reapplied after the war was over and Layla my dog had died they accepted my application and sent a woman out here t film me crossing streets and lights and doing stairs. About a month later I get a call from leader dog and they tell me that I cannot come back because I was discourteous to the staff they said looking back on my history I could not come back but if I wanted to appeal it. I thought about it and I decided to not appeal it. But I want up to know I would never say leader dogs are the best in which I did before. When I got my first dog jay if they looked in my history they would have seen I bought every student for Xmas a 35 dollar gift card I gave my snow clothes to the foreign students. I bought the housemother and trainers and the house mother and cooks an expensive lotion for Xmas. I also bought 250 rubber bracelets that had a paw print on them also it said Leader fog for the blind so they could sell in their store. I am a very loving and giving person. I think at that time between the trainer which she never gave me her name. I was not even given a chance I was only there 6 days. I told them that I would love to come back and get another leader dog but it is not worth jumping through hoops in order to get my situation and point across. I will not support Leader dogs for the blind they did me wrong I am not the kind of person they make me out to be, this is really a shame because I have lost more vision and I fall a lot. But there is no point in it. But I eas did wrong. My son was in the war and he was the one along with everyone else in his unit who saw some horrific things in Iraq when it was hot over there most of his unit died and the ones that live life with PTSD either that are they have killed themselves. 15 years later I do not have the stress of seeing if my son would be like that my son is now 43 years old and lives in texas as for me I live in California. Thanks for listening to my story. Misty Dispenza Oh it was the one in Rochester Michigan

2. Gibbs, Margaret. Leader Dogs for the Blind. Faifax, VA: Denlinger's Publishers, 1982.

• Leader Dogs for the Blind website