 In 2003, Steven Bochco (qv), the writer/producer of "Blind  Justice," wrote a mystery novel called "Death by Hollywood". In it,  the main character shows a friend of his a short story that he wrote  about a guy who gets telepathic messages from his dog for movie and  TV show ideas, and one of them was about a detective who gets  blinded in the line of duty and goes back to the force with a guide  dog. Steven Bochco decided to use that idea for this TV series.