Dr. Gerna Says,
For many of us the phrase “working like a dog” does not really make sense. Our pets spend most of their time sleeping, eating , playing and at a push, they have a daily walk. This phrase is put into perspective once you read about the life of a guide dog.
To be able to help blind and visually impaired people get around safely, guide dogs need to know how to keep a direct route, walk at a steady pace, turn left and right, avoid obstacles, lie quietly when their handler is sitting down and obey a number of verbal commands. A guide dog must also demonstrate an absolute mastery of crosswalk navigation. Have you ever wondered how a guide dog helps its handler across roads at traffic lights? Dogs cannot distinguish the color of the lights.
They are taught to stop at a curb and wait for a command from the handler. If the handler gives a command but the road is not clear and safe, the dog will selectively disobey the handler and only proceed when it is safe for them to cross. This is the most amazing thing about these dogs – their ability to balance obedience with their own assessment of the situation.
They are taught to judge which spaces are too narrow for handler and dog to fit through together and they can decide when overheads are too low for the handler to go under safely.
We all know Labradors are food driven which makes training them with treats easy. Yet all of their training gets done with positive reinforcement techniques, teaching the dogs not to get distracted by food while working. In harness they must be 100% focused on the job and handler. When the harness comes off, it signals the end of a day’s work and time for playing and relaxing has come.
We all admire these dogs and can hardly resist touching them when we come across them, but remember the best you can do is not to distract them, allowing them to get on with their job. Guiding the blind requires their undivided attention.