The Seeing Eye takes a photo of each dog as they complete their training. Pictured here is Teddy’s graduation photo.
M
eet Teddy, a five-year-old chocolate golden Labrador. Like most dogs, he loves to run around, greet people, play with fellow pooches, and chew on his bones, but Teddy is far from ordinary; he is a Seeing Eye dog. Teddy has been guiding his owner Jonathan Goodman since December 3, 2014, and in that role, he is more than man’s best friend, he’s his teammate. Each day, Goodman harnesses up Teddy and the handsome duo embarks on the world. While at work, Teddy displays his impressive skillset such as detecting potholes, finding elevators, and avoiding a car that’s run a stop sign. Simply put by Goodman, “Teddy is a rock star.” Indeed, Teddy is an extraordinary dog, but his rock star status didn’t happen overnight. His abilities are the result of roundthe-clock training, dedication, and love that started the day he was born at The Seeing Eye breeding facility. Teddy and Goodman are one of over 16,000 partnerships between individuals and dogs formed since The Seeing Eye’s incorporation in 1929. For almost 90 years, The Seeing Eye has bred and trained German shepherds, Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers, and Labrador/golden crosses to help their blind masters be more independent. As the oldest guide dog school in the world, The Seeing Eye has a reputation of excellence that draws visually impaired students as young as 16 from across the United States and Canada to its Washington Valley headquarters. The 60-acre campus in the heart of Morristown, becomes the temporary home of both the dogs and students in training. Renovated in 2013, the impressive structure houses administrative offices, student residences, and kennels where approximately 250 dogs reside at any given time. For at least four months, the dogs work with a sighted instructor before a cohort of future owners arrives thirteen times a year. For 18 to 25 days, the students and dogs train together before being paired off and sent to their new home.
Jonathan Goodman crosses the street with his Seeing Eye dog, Teddy.
More Than a Buddy On the Morristown Green, a 2.65-acre park at the center of town, you’ll find a statue of The Seeing Eye’s founder, Morris Frank, and his German shepherd, Buddy. As guide dogs in training lead their instructors past the life-sized statue, the townspeople are reminded of the integral role of the organization in the community, as well as its rich history. The roots of the organization date back to 1927, when Frank’s father read him a newspaper article about German shepherds being trained to guide blinded WWI veterans at a school in Switzerland. Having lost his eyesight in two separate childhood accidents, a then 19-year-old Frank was becoming increasingly disgruntled by his hampered independence. The thought of replacing his less than dependable human guide for a loyal canine was motivation enough to leave his home state of Tennessee for a trip abroad. For a year, Frank worked with the school’s founder, Dorothy Harrison Eustis, a wealthy American trainer residing in Switzerland, and in 1928, he returned to the United States with Buddy. Upon their return, Frank and his new guide dog were met by a sea of skeptical news reporters daring them to cross a busy intersection in New York City. As onlookers held their breath, Buddy confidently led Frank across the street, a historic moment that was captured in a famous photograph. This public display marked the country’s slow acceptance of guide dogs, which encouraged Eustis and Frank to co-found The Seeing Eye in Nashville, Tennessee on January 29, 1929. In 1931, the organization was relocated to Whippany, New Jersey, before settling in Morristown in 1965.
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