Guide dog
Whether it's traffic lights, stairs, or doors, a guide dog safely leads its blind or visually impaired owner through everyday life. These four-legged companions enable many blind people to live more independently. Behind this lies rigorous training. Read here what guide dogs can do and what the training entails.
Which dogs can become guide dogs?
Prospective guide dogs must show no signs of aggression and have a completely stable temperament. After all, they are expected to maintain their composure and awareness despite the hectic pace of city life. This training begins as puppies. Initial temperament tests take place. Health tests are also essential to ensure the four-legged friend can stay by his human's side for a long time.
That's why sourcing from reputable breeders is advantageous. In these breeders, the parent animals have already passed numerous health tests. This increases the likelihood of getting a healthy pet.
The Labrador Retriever is one of the best-known guide dogs for people who are blind. He possesses many excellent qualities. Furthermore, some breeders of this breed have specialized in breeding guide dogs for the blind. Dog training centers that have had positive experiences with breeders tend to continue working with them.
In principle, many other breeds are suitable for training. However, the dogs should have a shoulder height of 50 to 65 cm to fit well into the handler team. German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, Standard Poodles, or mixed breeds are also suitable after a corresponding temperament test.
Guide dog training
If the puppy passes the early temperament tests, it usually goes to a foster family where it receives extensive socialization and enjoys its first training sessions. Train journeys, encounters with other dogs, and children's shouts – the four-legged friend learns during this time to calmly handle all of this. Does he show a hunting instinct? If the dog shows signs of anxiety, the training ends here. Ultimately, a person's life could be endangered if the dog is too easily distracted.
After one year, the dog goes to a professional dog trainer for about six months, who trains him intensively. Here he is completing, among other things, the companion dog test.
Following this, training begins with the future owner. The dog and the human must be a good match – prospective dog owners often undergo a special selection process to ensure this. The human-animal pair then gets to know each other and trains together for several weeks.
At around 18 months old, the trained dog can move in with its new owner. But the learning process doesn't end there. A guide dog needs lifelong training, which means its owner has to practice and repeat tasks with it often.
A guide dog can do that.
What these four-legged helpers can do depends on their individual training. Essential for the dog is the ability to guide its human companion safely. This involves far more than simply walking ahead. The guide dog recognizes obstacles for its human and points them out or navigates around them. For example, it will stop at stairs or doors and navigate around street signs and benches. It will alert its human to steps or large puddles and guide them around obstacles such as scooters left on the sidewalk.
The dog can also recognize obstacles that are not close to the ground. These include, for example, barriers that the dog could easily cross on its own. The dog will stop at obstacles even if its owner commands it to continue. Guide dogs learn this intelligent disobedience to protect their owners from danger.
Nevertheless, the responsibility always lies with the human. They determine the route and instruct the four-legged friend accordingly.
The human maintains contact with the dog via the stable handlebars. This allows them to detect changes in direction early and immediately notice if the dog stops. The dogs respond to voice commands such as "find the traffic light," "go home," or "go to the toilet."
The corresponding goals and commands must be practiced beforehand with the trainer. A guide dog usually knows over 70 commands. However, it is essential to practice these regularly, because after two years, the dog will likely have forgotten the way to the doctor.
Here are some examples of commands that most guide dogs can perform besides "sit", "stay", etc., with a suitable command:
- run slower and faster
- walk on the right or left side of the road
- Show seating
- Show doors
- Find a traffic light – but he cannot tell when it turns "green".
- Show the mailbox or the bus stop.
Costs and requirements for a guide dog
A professionally trained guide dog can easily cost as much as a new compact car, starting at €20,000. The good news is that in many European countries, including Germany and Austria, health insurance companies contribute to the cost of the dog. Sometimes they even cover it completely. Like a wheelchair, a trained guide dog is classified as an "assistive device."
However, a guide dog is not suitable for every blind dog lover. Training together requires a lot of time, and handling the dog demands a willingness to learn and consistency from the human.
Guide dog owners should provide their dogs with opportunities to interact with other dogs. If the dog isn't wearing a harness, it might get into mischief and try to steal food from the Table. Not everyone with a visual impairment can cope with this. Especially first-time dog owners who live alone could face some unexpected challenges. Furthermore, owning a dog requires a certain level of fitness and mobility as a fundamental prerequisite.
separate work and fun
A guide dog is simply admirable – and incredibly well-behaved! If you spot one of these four-legged friends, don't pet it without first asking its owner for permission. When the dogs are wearing their harnesses, they are on duty. They shouldn't be distracted by people or animals and should concentrate fully on their task.
Since this is hard work for the dogs, it's essential to provide guide dogs with plenty of exercise. They enjoy romping with other dogs and carefree games just as much as any other dog. Guide dogs should only wear their harnesses for a limited time each day to allow for breaks and relaxation.
Already a pillar in the Middle Ages
That dogs have always been a help to blind people is evident in an old historical document: a 15th-century regulation from Strasbourg stipulated that beggars were not allowed to keep dogs – unless they were blind and therefore dependent on the four-legged friend.
The first attempts to train dogs as guide dogs for the blind took place in 18th-century Paris. Professional training for guide dogs became established around 1900.
Much has changed since then – guide dogs are now a common sight in many cities, like other assistance dogs. In most Western countries, they are allowed to accompany their owners to numerous places where dogs are otherwise prohibited, such as grocery stores or doctors' offices.
Are you looking for a guide dog?
Anyone with a visual impairment who needs a guide dog should contact guide dog schools. Blind associations and health insurance companies can also assist with questions about the application process or living with a guide dog.
Even some people without visual impairments are interested in these perfectly trained animals. Finding one is only possible with a great deal of luck. Some young animals don't pass the guide dog training and therefore need a new home.
For the average dog owner, however, this is not a drawback, as dogs are generally very well trained. They cannot reliably perform the highly complex tasks of a guide dog. Guide dogs who retire from service due to age also occasionally seek new homes.
From the age of eight, some animals become stressed or exhausted by the demands of daily work. Most of them, however, find a retirement home with their owner or in their immediate circle. If this isn't possible, guide dog organizations can help with rehoming. Since these dogs are very popular, finding a suitable retiree can involve long waiting lists.