How to become a guide dog trainer

Guide dogs don't cause panic to their owners. They won't bark at any time. People and dogs can travel safely as long as they obey the command!

Wang Jingyu is a professor at Dalian Medical University and the founder of Dalian Training Base for Guide Dogs in China. The 44-year-old doctor of animal behavior has been dealing with animals for 26 years. From 65438 to 0992, Wang Jingyu went to Japan to study. In Japan, Wang Jingyu found that the application of guide dogs greatly facilitated the life of Japanese visually impaired people. With the help of guide dogs, many visually impaired people can freely enter and leave public places, and even buy food and walk like healthy people. ...

"Disabled people in China need care, and visually impaired people need guide dogs." In 200 1 year, Wang Jingyu, who returned to China, was recruited to the Experimental Animal Center of Dalian Medical University as an imported talent, and the application and research of guide dogs were subsequently included in his scientific research project. In September, 2004, with the support and help of China Disabled Persons' Federation, Dalian Municipal Government, Dalian Disabled Persons' Federation and Dalian Medical University, Dalian Training Base for Guide Dogs in China was initially established.

Song Yanan, the breeding supervisor and training instructor of the base, told the reporter: "Most guide dogs choose Labrador and Golden Retriever, because they are not aggressive to human beings, moderate in size, gentle in temperament and honest in appearance. Stability is the best condition for them to become guide dogs. Of course, not all Labradors and Golden Retrievers have the potential to be guide dogs and need to be strictly screened. Dogs that are too lively and too sensitive to external things are not suitable for being guide dogs. "

Dogs identified as potential guide dogs generally need to go through three stages of training. After vaccination more than 40 days after birth, they will leave the delivery room and be fostered in the homes of caring volunteers. This stage mainly lies in cultivating their ability to adapt to the environment and communicate with people. After a year of breeding, the dog's body shape and IQ are close to maturity and will be taken back to the base for another round of selection and training.

"In the Japanese film" Guide Dog Little Q ",the trainer screened the adult Labrador dogs suitable for being guide dogs by whistling and putting food on the side of the road. Why? " "Only those dogs that have little response to sound and can withstand the temptation of food are qualified to be guide dogs. If the visually impaired people cross the road and the guide dog hears the car whistle and scares away first, it will be life-threatening. Only a guide dog that is not distracted is good! This is also the second round of evaluation of dogs identified as' quasi' guide dogs. Only by passing this round of assessment can you receive formal training! " An instructor's answer solved the reporter's doubts.

After six to eight months of rigorous training, we will enter the key stage of training-under the screening and guidance of trainers, guide dogs and visually impaired people will cooperate with each other and train together.

"Sit down!" "Go!" In the face of the reporter's order, a "quasi-"guide dog being trained ignored it. The training instructor told the reporter: "The training dog can only enter the working state after the person gives the correct instructions with the special dog saddle."

Then, I heard the trainer close his eyes and shout, "Go!" The training dog walked forward with vigorous steps. "Stop! Sit down! " With another command from the trainer, the training dog stopped and sat down.

The trainer told the reporter that it is an international practice to give instructions to guide dogs in English. In daily training, the instructions received by guide dogs are mostly the words "up, walk, stop, sit, right and left". "Our guide dogs can understand not only English instructions, but also Chinese and even sign language instructions."

According to reports, dogs are born color blind and can't guide the blind to cross the road by watching the traffic lights. Therefore, how to correctly guide the owner to the intersection with zebra crossing and observe the flow of people and vehicles with the cooperation of the owner has become an important duty of guide dogs. If a car passes by, the guide dog will stop immediately and signal the owner not to go any further. "Well-trained guide dogs will not bring panic to their owners. They won't bark at any time. As long as they obey the command, people and dogs can travel safely! " Guide dogs must be trained repeatedly for a long time and often go to the streets to "actually fight" until they can accurately complete all orders before they can officially take up their posts.

use

"At present, the number of guide dogs is limited, so the procedure is very strict when choosing its' owner'."

According to international practice, guide dogs are provided free of charge for visually impaired people. At present, China Guide Dog Dalian Training Base has successfully trained 6 guide dogs, among which Star and Lucky work in Beijing, Mao Mao, Benben, Shasha and Xiaoke work in Dalian, and another 30 "quasi" guide dogs are being trained in the training base.

"At present, the number of guide dogs is limited, so the procedure is very strict when choosing its' owner'." Song Yanan told reporters.

According to reports, visually impaired people who need guide dogs can only have guide dogs if they meet the following conditions: the applicant has passed the physical examination, has the ability to walk directionally, has a sense of direction, can walk two blocks independently, has the motivation to travel, has family members' consent to adoption, has the basic ability to take care of dogs, and has no history of animal allergies.

Zhang, a 43-year-old visually impaired person in Lushunkou District, Dalian, is one of the first beneficiaries after the successful training of guide dogs in Dalian Training Base, China. Her guide dog's name is Mao Mao. "With your help, Zhang and her visually impaired husband can go shopping and walk in the park freely, and their personalities have become cheerful and happy. Because of the large amount of activity, their bodies are much healthier than before. " Song Yanan told reporters with relief.

"At the Paralympic Games, Ping Yali, a visually impaired person who achieved a' zero' gold medal breakthrough for China, now has a guide dog trained by our base. Its name is lucky. " Song Yanan said proudly.

"Ping Yali can be a lucky master, which is not a simple matter. Like many job seekers, she has to be interviewed and matched. Lucky is big and fast-paced, and visually impaired people of average size may not be able to hold it. Only athletes like Ping Yali can' surrender' it. "

On February 4th, 2007, accompanied by Song Yanan, Lucky came to Ping Yali's home in Beijing for training.

According to Song Yanan's memory, once, Ping Yali went out with luck, and luck suddenly stopped on the road. No matter how hard Pingyali pulls, it won't go. "I've been following closely behind, let Ping Yali sound out what's in front with her feet. Pingya used her feet to find out and broke out in a cold sweat. It turns out that there is still a very dangerous step ahead. If you accidentally fall, the consequences will be unimaginable. "

Today, Lucky has become Ping Yali's "eyesore" and a good "helper" who never leaves. As a torchbearer of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Ping Yali hopes to take part in the Olympic torch relay in Beijing with "luck".

identity

There is no certification body for guide dogs in China, so the public security organs cannot identify which pet dog is a guide dog.

"In China, according to regulations, pets are not allowed to take buses, and guide dogs are not allowed to enter other public places such as toll parks. However, guide dogs are different from other pet dogs. If this situation cannot be improved, the ability of guide dogs to guide their owners to carry out activities will deteriorate. " The trainer told the reporter.

Ping Yali took the guide dog training certificate issued to Lucky by the base and went to the public security organ to register for Lucky, but the registration could not be processed. Because guide dogs are large dogs that are forbidden in urban areas (large dogs with adult height of more than 35 cm).

"Although the public security police who handle related matters understand us and allow us to use guide dogs, in fact, guide dogs are still black households." Ping Yali said.

The reporter learned in the interview that China has not yet incorporated the use and norms of guide dogs into unified laws and regulations, and relevant regulations can only be seen in the local laws and regulations of individual cities. For example, there is a provision in the Regulations on Dog Breeding in Beijing that guide dogs can be exempted from paying management fees. However, because there is no certification body for guide dogs in China, the public security organs cannot determine which pet dog is a guide dog. The staff of the Beijing Public Security Office for Comprehensive Management of Restricted Pets said that they are studying the related problems of guide dogs, hoping to find a feasible way to solve the travel problem of guide dogs.

Relevant personnel of Beijing Public Transport Group said that as the policy enforcement department, the public transport group still prohibits guide dogs from taking buses at this stage. When the bus is "open" to guide dogs must be decided by the policy-making department.

"Guide dogs are the eyes of the visually impaired. In Japan and South Korea, knowledge about guide dogs has been written into textbooks. Whether by bus, subway, shopping mall or supermarket, in many countries and regions, as long as people can go, guide dogs can go. Foreign guide dogs will get a training certificate after being trained by the' school', and this certificate will be recognized by law. I hope that the guide dogs in Chinese mainland can also obtain legal status as soon as possible. " Song Yanan said.