Sheila Hocken is a writer and canine specialist. She is best known for her book Emma & I (1978), an autobiography that details her growing up as a blind

Blindness

Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...

 child, her relationship with her chocolate Labrador retriever

Labrador Retriever

The Labrador Retriever is one of several kinds of retriever, a type of gun dog. A breed characteristic is webbed paws for swimming, useful for the breed's original purpose of retrieving fishing nets. The Labrador is the most popular breed of dog by registered ownership in Canada, the United...

 guide dog, Emma, and her regaining her sight

Acquired vision

Recovery from blindness is the phenomenon of a blind person gaining the ability to see, usually as a result of medical treatment. As a thought experiment, the phenomenon is usually referred to as Molyneux's Problem. The first published human case was reported in 1728 by the Surgeon William Cheselden...

 as a young woman through surgery. A 1984 TV film, Second Sight: A Love Story

Second Sight: A Love Story

Second Sight: A Love Story is a 1984 television film starring Elizabeth Montgomery and Barry Newman. The film is based on the book Emma and I, by Sheila Hocken.- Plot :...

, starring Elizabeth Montgomery

Elizabeth Montgomery

Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery was an American film and television actress whose career spanned five decades. She is perhaps best remembered for her roles as Samantha Stephens in Bewitched, as Ellen Harrod in A Case of Rape and as Lizzie Borden in The Legend of Lizzie Borden.-Early life:Born in Los...

, is based on the book.

Hocken became actively involved in the canine world as a dog trainer in Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

, England.

Books

• Emma and I (1978) ISBN 0-7089-0322-3
• Emma V.I.P. (1980) ISBN 0-575-02914-5
• Emma and Co. (1983) ISBN 0-85119-291-2
• Living with Dogs (1985) ISBN 0-575-03551-X
• After Emma (1988) ISBN 0-575-04255-9
• Emma Forever (1990) ISBN 0-575-04911-1

External links

• Sheila Hocken dog training — official site