What Kind of Dogs Are Used As Guide Dogs?

There are three types of dogs that are used most often but there are other breeds that have been used.  The three common breeds are:

Labrador Retriever (Lab)

German Shepard

Golden Retriever

The other breeds that I know of that have been used are: Standard Poodles, Huskey, Doberman, Rotweiler,  a cross between a Golden Retriever and a Lab and a cross between a Standard Poodle and a Lab (Labardoole)

If I'm out walking and I see one of these kinds of dog's, how do I know it's a Guide Dog?

You will know it is a guide dog by the harness it wears.  The harness is not like a harness you see in a pet shop but more like a working harness.  It has a body piece and a handle.  The most common colors of a guide dog harness are brown, black and white.  Two of my dog's are sporting two harness's on the first page.

So how does the dog work?

The dog works through the harness.  The handler (the blind or visiually impaired person) holds the handle of the harness.  As the dog is walking the handler can feel through the handle of the harness which direction the dog is moving and how the dog is moving.  When ever the handler wants to go right or left, he/she will give a command like find right, find left. or just simply right or left.

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