Breeds
Early on, trainers began to recognize which breeds produced dogs most appropriate for guide work; today, Golden Retrievers, Labradors, and German Shepherds are most likely to be chosen by guide dog facilities, although other breeds, such as Yorkshire Terriers, Standard Poodles, Collies, Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, Papillons, Vizslas, Dobermans, Rottweilers, Boxers, and Airedale Terriers, may also be selected. Guide dog breeds are chosen in relation to height at the shoulder measured against harness length and an individual's height.
Crosses such as Golden Retriever/Labrador (which are popular due to both breeds' known intelligence, work-ethic, and early maturation) and Labradoodles (Labrador/Poodles bred to provide dogs with less shedding for those with allergies to hair or dander) are also common.
Read more about this topic: Guide Dog
Famous quotes containing the word breeds:
“If from the earth we came, it was an earth
That bore us as a part of all the things
It breeds and that was lewder than it is.
Our nature is her nature. Hence it comes,
Since by our nature we grow old, earth grows
The same. We parallel the mother’s death.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“Fruitless striving breeds less despair than inaction.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“That island of England breeds very valiant creatures; their
mastiffs are of unmatchable courage.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)