Of Dog Guides and Guide Dogs

Of Dog Guides and Guide Dogs

Braille MonitorMay-June 1986
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Of Dog Guides and Guide Dogs
(Note: Is it much about nothing, or
nothing about much--or somewhere between?
Peas
porridge hot; peas porridge cold.
Peas porridge in the pot nine days old.)
New York, New York
February 13, 1986
Dear Dr. Jernigan:
Jacquilyn Billey suggested that I send
you a copy of the following item for
possible inclusion in the Braille
Monitor. It is in response to a reediting
of an article that I initially
published in the Long Cane Newsletter. Not only did they convert every one of
my Guide Dogs into a Dog Guide, the
editors retitied our forthcoming book "A
Guide to Guide Dog Schools" to "A Guide
to Dog Guide Schools." The present
article is m response to that reversal.
I know that NFB prefers the term Dog
Guide, but the enclosed article might
raise the issue once again and result in
a reversal of the stand taken by NFB.
Thanks for the opportunity of submitting
this material. I eagerly look
forward to each month's issue of the Monitor and want to congratulate you on
what I believe to be one of the most
informative and professionally produced
publications for the blind and by the
blind. I particularly look forward to
your speeches.
Sincerely,
Edwin Eames
Professor of Anthropology
Baruch College

WHAT DO YOU CALL
ONE OF THEM DOGS?
by Edwin J. Eames, Baruch College
Toni A. Gardiner, Kings Park
Psychiatric Center
Charles Warnath, Oregon State
University, Corvallis
Most of us who are blind and use dogs
as mobility aides often hear the following
remark: "What a beautiful seeing eye
dog." Although all three of us are
teamed with a dog, only Ed Eames has a
seeing eye dog. Although Ed Eames may
respond to this remark with a smile,
Toni Gardiner and Chuck Warnath respond
less favorably. Using the term seeing
eye to refer to all dogs that guide
biind people is like using the word
Kleenex to refer to all tissues or Xerox
to refer to all copy machines. Presently
there are ten guide dog schools in
the United States in addition to The
Seeing Eye, Incorporated.
When Toni Gardiner and Chuck Warnath
are confronted with the statement: "What
a beautiful seeing eye dog," their response
is: "That's no seeing eye dog;
that's my guide dog" Today they can't
even make that statement. Why not?
Because now they're told that we have to
call them dog guides.

This revisionist movement to change our guide dogs into dog guides is apparent
from the last issue of The Long
Cane Newsletter in which the title of
our forthcoming book "A Guide to Guide
Dog Schools" was changed to "A Guide to
Dog Guide Schools." Why the insistance
on this usage? The only reason we can
think of is to compare dog guides with
human guides.
What are the arguments to sustain the
use of guide dogs rather than dog
guides? First, the term guide dogs is
the traditional one used in the literature
dealing with dogs to guide the
blind. Even Peter Putnam, the official
historian of The Seeing Eye, Incorporated,
in his volume "Love in the Lead,"
notes that he uses the term guide dog
throughout the volume despite the fact
that The Seeing Eye, Incorporated, prefers
the usage of dog guide. Second,
five of the eleven operational schools
in the country that train such dogs use
guide dogs in their school name. Third,
the only existing state agency that
licenses such schools, the California
State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind,
has the term guide dog in its organizational
name. Fourth, the use of the
term guide dog places the functional
purpose of the dog before the noun.
This is common usage in English and
parallels other terms such as signal
dogs, dogs trained for the hearing
impaired; service dogs, dogs trained for
the physically handicapped; and therapy
dogs, dogs trained for the mentally ill.
Traditionally, dogs have been classified
by their functions. Thus, we have hunting
dogs, herding dogs, guard dogs, and
even lap dogs. If we can contrast the
term dog sled with sled dog, it seems
apparent that a dog sled is a sled that
would be pulled by dogs, whereas a sled
dog is a dog who pulls a sled. In a
similar fashion, show dog and house dog
can be contrasted with dog show and dog
house. By analysis, we conclude that a
dog guide must be a guide to the various
breeds of dogs. By contrast, a guide
dog must be a dog that guides someone.
From the above arguments it must be
apparent that the three of us infinitely
prefer the term guide dog to dog guide.
We are not going to retitle our book.
In addition, the next time an editor
decides to tamper with our usage, we
will organize a peaceful demonstration
outside of the headquarters of the
American Foundation for the Blind and
bring all of our guide dogs with us.

Baltimore, Maryland
March 4, 1986
Dear Professor Eames:
I have your interesting article on
guide dogs, and before publishing it, I
thought we should have a bit of dialogue.
I had always used the term guide
dog until somebody or another told me
with some acerbity that a guide dog was
trained by Guide Dogs, Inc., of San
Rafael, California--that all dogs which
guide the blind are not guide dogs any
more than they are seeing eye dogs. In
short, I was told in no uncertain manner
that the only term open to me was dog
guide.
Presumably if someone should set up a
school called Dog Guides, Inc., I would
be deprived of even that. God knows
what I would use then--"canine ambulatory
adjuncts," perhaps. But, of
course, even that might disappear if it
took somebody's fancy.

The term dog guide has always struck
me as artificial and stilted, but I use
it--simply because I want to get along
in the world, because I do not wish to
trample on feelings unnecessarily, and
because there is a limit as to how many
and what kind of wars one can fight.
Having said all of which, I now come
straight to the nub of the matter: Tell
me true. Is the term guide dog the
property of the school in San Rafael, or
have I been misled and misinformed? If
I call a leader dog or a seeing eye dog
a guide dog (purely in a generic sense,
of course), will the dog bite me or the
school sue me? Even if these things do
not happen, will I be regarded as uninformed
or lacking good taste? I express
no opinion. I merely come as a humble
seeker.
Very truly yours,

Kenneth Jernigan,
President

National Federation of the Blind

New York, New York

March 12, 1986
Dear Dr, Jernigan:
Thank you very much for your letter
acknowledging the article prepared by us
for publication in the Long Cane Newsletter.
We,
of course, share your concern for
the proper use of language and the obvious
potential for litigation. Certainly,
if Guide Dogs for the Blind,
Inc., of San Rafael, California, has a
patent on the term "guide dogs," then we
would be in trouble. Like you, we had
been told when we began writing our book
that if we use the term guide dog we
would open ourselves to a potential suit
brought by the school in San Rafael.
However, as we began to look at the
previous literature and as we had contact
with the school in San Rafael, such
concerns disappeared. At this time, we
do not believe that Guide Dogs for the
Blind, Inc., or any other guide dog
school would challenge our legal and
legitimate right to use the term guide
dog. Since four other schools have the
term guide dog in their title, no one of
them could claim a patent or trademark
right to the term.
When we first heard the term "dog
guide" we were quite puzzled. Our first
Impression was that this would have to
be a book describing the various breeds
of dogs in the United States. After
all, what would a book guide be other
than a book about books. However, the
guide book would be quite something
else. Therefore, after some confusion
we went back to the term guide dog and
are firmly committed to its use in our
forthcoming publication, in our everyday
conversations, and when we talk to our
dogs. In fact, when we have listened in
on conversations among our dogs we find
that they still refer to themselves as
guide dogs.
Sincerely,
Edwin Eames and his guide dog Perrier
Toni Ann Gardiner and her guide dog Ivy
Charles Warnath and his guide dog Pogo(back)(contents)(next)