Guide Dogs

Affectionately considered as a man’s best friend, some dog breeds have an innate desire to work, making them exceptional service companions. Guide Dogs are proven to increase confidence, safety, and efficiency in travelling for people with vision impairment. Guide Dogs are specially bred from a lineage of guide dogs, go through stringent assessment and training for 18 months before they are matched with their potential users.

Singapore has been relatively new in adopting the use of guide dogs as a visual aid. The introduction of guide dogs into Singapore has greatly contributed to enabling the vision-impaired to gain confidence in mobility and ease in travelling.

People with vision impairment may choose to use a white cane or a Guide Dog as a mobility aid to help them travel safely and independently.

Guide Dogs Singapore has been responsible for successfully training and pairing 11 guide dog teams in our history, of which 6 are currently active. A steadily increasing number of potential clients have also joined our waiting list.

History of Guide Dogs

International

The ancient records have shown blind men being guided/helped by dogs. One of the earliest depictions of such can be found in a Chinese scroll painting from the 13th century, titled “Spring on Yellow River”. In this painting, many figures were depicted and among them is a blind man with a dog. In addition, there were also other medieval records of art and wood carvings that depict blind men being led by a dog.

In more recent history, Germany started a school training dogs to help returning WWI veterans, blinded in the war, with their mobility.

Subsequently, this movement then spread from Europe to America. As a result, several Guide Dog schools were established through the years to help not just veterans, but people with vision loss.

Singapore

Guide Dogs have a short history in Singapore, having been established only in 2006. However, in the past 15 years we have seen much progress in accessibility and awareness in the community and we seek to continue to educate the community on the work that Guide Dogs do.

GDS Milestones

Information on Guide Dog Laws