Update: If you're allergic to dogs, you could use guide horses. Any animal that can maneuver their way through the urban jungle called Manhattan deserve five stars.

The quality of life these dogs give is amazing. These dogs work hard being on guard 24/7 to keep their handlers safe.

There is a man on my college campus who has a guide dog. I passed them every other day on my way to class. I would watch as the dog carefully guided him around the rush of all the people making their way to class. It amazes me how smart these creatures are once they've been trained. They are so cautious and their only purpose in life is to help someone.

Only job better then guiding people is search and rescue. Dogs are cool, and even more cool when they help people out. :)

The most incredibly trained dogs I have ever seen in my life. I could swear they are taught to think and make decisions. Years ago I had a job with a local Ford agency delivering parts to repair garages and body shops. One particular delivery was hazardous because I had to make a left turn going uphill on to a street that was not much bigger than an alley. I got over into the left hand turn lane and put on my left turn signal. I saw a pedestrian at the corner waiting to go across the small street. At first glance it looked like a man walking his dog. I waved him on with my hand to signal him that he should cross. The pedestrian did not move. Again I waved him on because I knew that my opportunity to turn would be a small break in the oncoming traffic and I would have to accelerate quickly. The last thing that I wanted was to have the pedestrian begin crossing the street as I was turning. Seeing a break in traffic coming I waved him on a third time but again he did not move. It was then that I noticed the special harness that is used with these dogs and I realized that the animal was a seeing eye dog. The pedestrian did not look like a typical blind person that one would expect to see with dark glasses and a walking stick. I saw that the dog was looking at me and was waiting for me. I can only guess that it knew what a car's turn signal indicator meant. Once I made my turn I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the dog lead the pedestrian across the road. What wonderful animals these dogs are for they provide more than just companionship, they make life and death decisions for their owners. There must be a special place in heaven for these dogs as well as for the people who train them, and in my view, there are few who are more worthy.