guide dog [ME, guiden, to guard; OE, docga] , a dog trained to aid in the mobility of a blind or visually impaired individual. Guide dogs are usually recruited from certain compatible breeds and tested at 13 weeks of age. If qualified, the dog is then specially trained in private hands for 1 year and retested. Most dogs selected for training pass the final test. Guide dogs also may be trained to serve as “ears” for people who are deaf or hearing impaired. Also called companion animal, Seeing Eye dog.
