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Guide Dog Training For The Disabled
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A guide dog proves the fact that a dog is man's best friend. A dog undergoes rigorous training and assessment sessions to become a guide dog so that it can help physically impaired people (especially blind people) lead better lives. Training of a guide dog starts when it is 12 months old. It is at this age that they are brought to the guide dog training centers. At this time they go through vigorous assessment for their health, temperament and physical strength and endurance.
The instructors keep a note of the dog's reactions to various common-place situations. They assess if the dogs are distracted by cats, food, noise, other dogs or any other circumstances likely to produce anxious reactions in general pet dogs. Based upon these reactions only a selected few dogs are chosen for guide dog training. Then they have to undergo rigorous training sessions that last 4-6 months.
One dog is assigned to each of the visually impaired person and a separate trainer is assigned to train both of them. This is because as a dog needs to be trained to work according to instructions and situations, similarly, the disabled person also needs to be trained to how to keep the dog under control, always. Every person gets a guide dog that suits his/her personal requirements. This is usually found out by a questionnaire filled in by the person in need of a guide dog. The training program is also based on the same questionnaire.
During the training session a dog is taught many things like straight line walking, obeying commands (stop, left, right, forward, slow), ignoring distractions (cats, food, other dogs). Also the dogs are trained to stay in suburbs, rural areas or city centers. A dog is also trained to do certain work independently like walking past obstacles, maneuvering its way in crowd, notice obstacles that are hanging in it handlers way (like tree branches). Lot of encouragement and praise makes them work harder and attain perfection.
During the final stages of the training program a dog is taken for trips to public places like suburban railway stations and other places for access to public transport, banks, post office, shops, etc. A guide is also checked for traffic safety before being declared as one. A dog is even taught to refuse to obey a command of its handler for safety reasons. Thus a dog is trained to take sensible decisions to the extent possible.
At the end of the training the instructor walk in light proof glasses so that he can't see and the dog is meant to act like a guide dog for a person who is visually impaired. After a dog passes this final test it is passed over to the handler. This is the most crucial part of the training as after this period the dog and the handler have to be each other's mutual support without any intervention or support from the trainer.
At the end of the program the dog and the handler have to go through a test together to prove that they can work together as a team. Post that, the handler receives a veterinary certificate, a passport (for the dog) and special dog equipment.
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