Leader Dog

infobox television
show_name = Leader Dog


format = Children's television series
runtime = 1 to 3 Minutes
creator = Larry Schwarz
starting = April 1, 2004
country = USA
network = NickToons Network

"Leader Dog" is an animated film series on NickToons TV. The series was produced by Animation Collective, created by Larry Schwarz and debuted in 2004. For a time a full 30 minutes series was planned, but the idea was scrapped due to lack of interest from viewers.

This show is about a spunky dog who is abducted by aliens from Planet Zmed, whose king is King Adrian, sets two of Zmed's explorers, named Dave and Blark, in search for Earth's leader; the one that everyone follows.

At the very moment that they reached the Earth, a dog was trying to escape a maximum security city pound. With so many dogcatchers chasing the dog, Dave and Blark mistook the dog for Earth's leader. Immediately, they caught the dog, and the people of Zmed swore him in as a leader.

Mainly, the newly named "Leader" is showing the people of Zmed what and how he does things on Earth. But with Leader being a dog, he is mainly showing the race what he and other dogs do on earth. With this, some of the more canine things he does are considered great feats to the Zmedians, like drinking from the toilet, playing dead, and even having a massive and rather nasty bowel movement.

The characters consist of King Adrian,the king who loves Leader and his ways, as well as Adrian's son who is a spoiled young prince named Prince Guz who totally despises Leader in every way; and the twin explorers named Dave and Blark who saved Leader. Each episode is only one to three minutes long and airs randomly on Nicktoons.

LEADER DOG(S) FOR THE BLIND/ DEAF-BLIND COMMUNITY

"Founded by three Detroit area Lions Clubs members in 1939, Leader Dogs for the Blind provides dog guides to people who are blind and visually impaired to enhance their mobility, independence and quality of life. Each year, over 270 students [are] paired with a dog guide. This is a life-changing event that opens the doors to independence, safety and self-worth for many . . ." [1]

While many organizations train dogs for the deaf, or other single-based disability (blind, companion (work and simple companionship) deaf, or mobility impaired, Leader Dogs for the Blind, also runs one of the few multiple disabled training facilities for the 'deaf-blind' or deaf-blind-moblity community.

The animals used for helping the disabled rage from dogs, to miniature horses, pigs, and more. (Answers.com has more on this [2] ) Guide dogs and service dogs (which is a yellow-orange page at present and lacks the references which the guide dog page seems to pass) do far more than just help a person cross a street when it's safe. They help carry groceries, know the names of many stores and the safest way to get to them help with lights, cooking, some cleaning, and of course, protection among a myriad of other tasks. While I do not have a citation, a friend traveling India told me of a school which teaches miniature elephants such varied tasks as caring for infants to following commands to help cook, weave, stand in line to bring home containers of water from a public well, and pick up prepackaged food from shop owners who are willing to accommodate the person. Much as Delivery 'Boys' would deliver groceries here, the elephant would wait outside the shop, and the owner would bring the food to the elephant. While this is completely within the norms of behavior for an elephant, I could not find a source in a quick web search.

Pgalioni (talk) 22:19, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

External links

*imdb title|id=0472962

.......home page of Leader Dogs for the Blind [http://www.leaderdog.org/index.php]