Trust the Dog: Rebuilding Lives Through Teamwork with Man's Best Friend »

Since its origins breeding and donating service dogs in 1960, the Fidelco guide Dog Foundation has been promoting increased independence for people who are blind by providing them with the highest quality German shepherds possible. Placement, in-community training with the dogs, and ongoing follow-up services are all completely free of charge. Gerri Hirshey is a journalist and author whose writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Esquire, GQ, and many more.

A groundbreaking look at the special bond between guide dogs and those who thrive with their help

From a pioneering guide dog organization comes the first book to explore one of the most profound and inspiring relationships between humans and animals.

In Trust the Dog, the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation introduces readers to a group of extraordinary people who, thanks to their guide dogs, flourish in a world that assumes the ability to see. Among them are a brother and sister who lost their sight at a very young age and whose dogs essentially helped them grow up, a Serbian girl who fled civil war to find new hope in America, and a newly blind single father determined to keep his family together against all odds. Through their experiences we discover the astonishing team­work and devotion between people who are blind and their guide dogs, the intelligence and discipline that these animals unfailingly display, and the noble work of the nonprofit organization that for fifty years has been making it all possible. A heartwarming tribute to this unique relationship, Trust the Dog is sure to change how we think about man's best friend, and the possibilities of life without sight.

Library Journal

Imagine yourself in a dark, sightless world. How would you function in your daily life? Now imagine that someone has raised, trained, and provided you with a dog that can not only be a companion but help you get through an otherwise difficult day. For 50 years the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation (www.fidelco.org) has been doing just that, and this book celebrates this organization's exceptional service to the blind. Journalist Hirshey introduces Fidelco clients like Vicky Nolan, a middle-school reading and math teacher whose gradual loss of vision pushed her to the point of desperation. Well written and not self-serving or overly promotional as one might expect, the book encourages readers to learn about locally available services for the visually impaired. VERDICT This original entry in the canine memoir genre should touch the reader's soul. For a personal, more in-depth look at the historical development of guide dogs, consider Morris Frank and Blake Clark's classic First Lady of the Seeing Eye. [For more canine memoirs, see this reviewer's Short Takes: Pet Memoirs, LJ 2/1/10, p. 88.—Ed.]—Edell M. Schaefer, Brookfield P.L., WI