Guide Dog Trainer #510: Lambert Kreimer Papers

Published July 22, 2025 at 6:00 AM MDT

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Photograph of Lambert Kreimer with Rolf, the first ever dog trained to lead the blind and Willie Reinstein, who was blinded in World War I. Box 1, Lambert Kreimer papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Newspaper photograph featuring Lambert Kreimer with four of the guide dogs he had trained, 1937. Box 2, Lambert Kreimer papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Photograph of Lambert Kreimer accustoming one of his guide dogs to a horse. Box 3, Lambert Kreimer papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Photograph of Lambert Kreimer working with an unidentified blind person and his guide dog. Box 3, Lambert Kreimer papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Growing up in Germany, Lambert Kreimer learned to train dogs from his father. They trained dogs for hunting, messenger work, and for the Red Cross. But it was a World War I injury that led to Kreimer’s life’s work – training guide dogs for the blind.

Kreimer had been shot and was taken to a field hospital, where he met another soldier who had been blinded by a war injury. Kreimer was inspired to find a way to help his fellow comrades-in-arms. He invented a special harness and set about training Rolf, a German shepherd, to guide his blind friend. Rolf became the world’s first guide dog for the blind. Kreimer was soon hired by the German government to train dogs intended to aid blind veterans.

In 1929, Kreimer was persuaded to move to the U.S. by Senator Thomas D. Schall. Schall was blind and owned a dog that had been trained by Kreimer. Undeterred by the fact that he spoke no English, Kreimer worked at first through a translator. Kreimer’s technique involved matching the temperament and size of the dog to the personality and gait of the blind person. Training of a dog took eight to ten months. Once Kreimer matched a dog with a person, he conducted an intensive training program to ensure that the two could work effectively together.

Learn more in the Lambert Kreimer papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.