Guide dogs for the blind: their selection, development, and training: Analysis of the puppy testing program.

Abstract

This book reports the development, over more than 20 years, of a project for selection and training, and later also breeding, of guide dogs for the blind, under the auspices of Guide Dogs for the Blind Inc., USA. The scientific puppy testing and other research aspects of the work were initiated by the late Clarence J. Pfaffenberger, who wrote some of the chapters, and to whom the book is dedicated. The other authors are all professional scientists of distinction in the field of animal behaviour and related studies. Some of the data presented here were made available to Burns and Fraser, and has been reviewed by them in "Genetics of the Dog". Further analysis has, however, modified some of the earlier conclusions.The whole book makes fascinating reading for anyone interested in the problems of blind people and/or the use of dogs in the service of mankind. For scientists, there is much more for the behaviourist than the geneticist. Most of the chapter on genetics is on a semi-popular level, and contains little new data on genetics of behaviour. The section on hip dysplasia presents new and important data. Dogs with moderate degrees of subluxation did not show lameness and did not have their utility reduced or their working life shortened, so that X-raying of potential guide dogs for the condition may be superfluous. Detailed analysis of X-rays showed that hip dysplasia is not a single entity, and that different parts of the hip joint vary independently. This is illustrated by diagrams. Assessment of parents and progeny on a 60-point scale revealed that even very slight imperfections indicate a propensity to breed dysplastic puppies, so that dogs passed as "normal" by ordinary X-ray grading may, in fact, not be genetically "safe". Therefore, if selection against dysplasia is considered necessary in breeding stock, the more detailed 60-point assessment should be used. If this conclusion applies to other strains and breeds, as seems probable, it could help to clear up some of the present doubts and disappointments in hip dysplasia elimination schemes. Marca Burns