The first guide dog training center in the United States was established in Nashville, Tennessee on 1929. Guide dogs were first introduced to Japan in 1938, and the first guide dog was introduced in 1947. Japan Guide Dog Association was established in 1967. The first guide dog training center was established in Taiwan Province Province on 1993.
Please don't play with guide dogs when you see them on the road, which will seriously affect the work of guide dogs and endanger the safety of the blind.
The life of a guide dog
Newborn puppies: from birth to two months old. The puppy was born in the guide dog center until it was two months old.
Foster family period: two months to one year old. After two months of age, the guide dog was separated from his biological parents and lived in a foster family. This period is to let puppies learn two important things: first, get used to the mode of getting along with humans. Foster families must strictly prohibit puppies from eating human food, jumping on furniture (especially sofas) and human beds, and obey basic instructions (such as sitting down, getting down, waiting ...). Second, social training. In the golden age of socialization, puppies are brought to various public places by foster families, get used to various environments and take public transportation, which has fully adapted and prepared for the convenience of serving the visually impaired in the future.
Training center period: one to two years old. Separated from foster families and returned to the training center to receive the training of professional guide dog trainers. Guide dogs will learn professional guide dog skills at this time, such as avoiding obstacles, parking at intersections, and listening to instructions to find destinations.
Working period: Generally, guide dogs can graduate from the training center in one to one and a half years, and retire at the age of eight to twelve on average after finding a suitable owner.
Retirement period: retirement ~ death. Be adopted by a suitable adoptive family, live a long and peaceful life, and be a happy pet dog until death do us part.
Training of guide dogs
The training course of guide dogs is as long as 18 months, and the comprehensive cost is 25-30 thousand dollars. The working life of guide dogs can reach 8- 10 years. Puppies start training 2 months after birth, the first stage 12 months. At present, it is mainly to train puppies to be familiar with human living environment, such as houses, cars, roads and other small animals, such as cats, dogs and children, which guide dogs will come into contact with in their future work. Familiar with various public places, such as shops, restaurants, playgrounds, schools, elevators, crosswalks, traffic lights, buses, trains and even airplanes; Train some basic obedience, such as sitting, waiting, standing and walking. Training dogs to walk is a basic task. Because the future job of these dogs is to lead the visually impaired owners to wherever they need it.
The first stage of training is usually undertaken by volunteer families who raise guide dogs and puppies. Of course, in addition to training tasks, the most important thing is to give puppies a good diet and health care, so that they can grow up healthily. 12 months later, these special puppies will be sent to the guide dog training school for intensive professional training for 5 months. The work at this stage is undertaken by professional trainers.
The school day begins at 7 am. At 7: 00, the dogs were taken outdoors, cleaned and worked hard, and then waited for breakfast. Dogs are trained to eat only when their owners say they can eat. After training for a whole day, I returned to the kennel to rest at 8 pm. There are two days off on Saturday and Sunday. Dogs can enjoy playing, bathing and playing without learning and training. Strict work and rest schedule is to train dogs to adapt to the diet, daily life and work and rest schedule of future owners. In addition, guide dogs are trained to go to the toilet after hearing instructions. This is because some owners may work in the office for a long time in the future, and dogs not only need to wait patiently, but also need to pee.
In the whole training program, the trainer should evaluate the dog students from the following aspects: learning attitude, learning willingness or dislike of learning; Learning initiative and concentration skills; Whether you are nervous and aggressive, whether you are easily distracted by the surrounding environment, such as other cats and dogs, whether you are too active and can't be quiet for a long time, etc. Ma Weisi, a hotel dog employee, was eliminated from the guide dog training school because he was too active to wait quietly for a long time. For details, please see the full-time dog staff of luxury hotels.
Dog students of the guide dog training school
After a month's preliminary investigation, the trainer evaluated the dog's performance, and it was divided into 1, which can start formal training, 2, can try again, and 3, which is not suitable for being a guide dog. Of course, the third category of dogs will be eliminated immediately. Usually, puppy breeding families have the priority to raise them. Even if it is eliminated, it does not mean that dogs are useless. After being eliminated by the training of guide dogs, mavis successfully became a hotel receptionist. The public is also very eager for dogs that have even been eliminated, because they are purebred dogs and have many good genes. Another alternative to eliminating dogs is to treat dogs as hospital patients.
The next four months of training are divided into three stages. The first stage is to train the dog to walk in a straight line and stop before crossing the road edge. In the second stage, the dog is trained to understand and obey all the terms of the command; In the third stage, the dog is trained to complete all the basic skills required by the guide dog freely, such as walking in a straight line and not smelling the ground; Walk close to the owner's left, a little ahead; Stop at all the stairs; Stop at all intersections and cross the road as instructed; Avoid horizontal and vertical (overhead) obstacles (if the passage is too narrow for people and dogs to pass together); Lying quietly in a restaurant or office; Clever disobedience to instructions is only when the instructions may put the owner in danger, such as the owner ordering to cross the road, but the visually impaired do not find the car coming around the corner. At this time, the duty of the guide dog is to refuse to obey the instructions until the danger is eliminated.
In the last month of guide dog training, the guide dog and the future owner participated together. Owners should learn how to work with guide dogs, how to command, how to feed, how to give dogs a health check, how to get along with dogs and so on. Dogs should know the living environment, working environment and so on of the new owner; Both sides should know each other's living habits, schedule, personality, language and behavior characteristics. At this point, the training of a guide dog has been completed. Under normal circumstances, guide dogs have to take part in tests and retraining when changing their owners, so as to test whether the guide dogs still have their due abilities.
Dogs have a good memory. Usually, after living together for a period of time, guide dogs will be very familiar with their owners' regular routines, such as commuting routes, restaurants, supermarkets, friends' homes and so on. And dogs will know where their owners often go and how long they stay. Dogs can remember a friend's address, and even after a year, they will still lead their owners to that place.
The guide dog guides the owner to get off the bus.
No wonder guide dogs and their owners form a very strong relationship, which is full of feelings and sometimes even exceeds blood relationship. Guide dogs are the eyes, assistants, close family members and loyal partners of the visually impaired. Once a guide dog is trained to put on a special saddle, it is in working condition. At this time, they concentrate on following their master's orders and are no longer distracted by the things around them. Once the saddle is removed, it is no different from ordinary family pet dogs. They also need to play, move, caress, coquetry and communicate feelings. Owners build strong feelings by playing with dogs. But even the best dogs are tempted by food. So when you meet a guide dog at work in the street, don't disturb him, don't talk to him to attract his attention, and don't tease him with food, otherwise the guide dog will distract him and affect the work effect.
Dogs are man's best friends. Seeing the work of guide dogs and their contribution to the visually impaired, you will love them more.