How Guide Dogs Work
by Tom Harris
Photo courtesy Guiding Eyes for the Blind A Guiding Eyes for the Blind instructor puts on a
dog's harness.
On the Job and After Hours
Guide dogs enjoy their work immensely, and they get a lot of satisfaction from a job well done,
but there is no room for typical dog fun during the work day. Games, treats and praise distract
the dog from helping its handler navigate the course. Even when the handler doesn't need
assistance, a guide dog on the job is trained to ignore distractions and keep still. This is because a
guide dog must be able to come to the handler's workplace or be in public places without
creating a disturbance.
When you see a guide dog on the job, it is extremely important that you recognize that it is at
work. Petting or talking to the dog breaks its concentration, which impairs the handler's ability to
get around in his or her surroundings. People are very impressed with guide dogs and so we have
a natural inclination to praise them, but the best thing you can do to help a guide dog is to leave it
alone so that it can pay attention to its surroundings and maintain its focus on its handler.
Guiding is very complicated, and it requires a dog's undivided attention.
When a guide dog gets home at the end of the day, however, it will play and soak up praise just
like an ordinary pet. Guide dogs make the distinction between work and play based on their lead
harness: When the harness is on, they must stay completely focused -- when it comes off, it's
play time. Guide dogs work very hard every day, but they lead extremely happy lives, full of lots
of attention and stimulation. Dogs only end up working as guide dogs if they absolutely love the
work. In fact, many handlers report that their dogs leap enthusiastically into the harness every
morning!
What Guide Dogs Do
Guide dogs help blind or visually impaired people get around in the world. In most countries,
they are allowed anywhere that the public is allowed, so they can help their handlers be any place
they might want to go. To do this, a guide dog must know how to:
Keep on a direct route, ignoring distractions such as smells, other animals and people
Maintain a steady pace, to the left and just ahead of the handler
Stop at all curbs until told to proceed
Turn left and right, move forward and stop on command
Recognize and avoid obstacles that the handler won't be able to fit through (narrow
passages and low overheads)
Stop at the bottom and top of stairs until told to proceed
Bring the handler to elevator buttons
Lie quietly when the handler is sitting down
Help the handler to board and move around buses, subways and other forms of public
transportation
Obey a number of verbal commands
Additionally, a guide dog must know to disobey any command that would put the handler in
danger. This ability, called selective disobedience, is perhaps the most amazing thing about
guide dogs -- that they can balance obedience with their own assessment of the situation.
This capacity is extremely important at crosswalks, where the handler and dog must work very
closely together to navigate the situation safely. When the team reaches the curb, the dog stops,
signaling to the handler that they have reached a crosswalk. Dogs cannot distinguish the color of
traffic lights, so the handler must make the decision of when it is safe to proceed across the road.
The handler listens to the flow of traffic to figure out when the light has changed and then gives
the command "forward." If there is no danger, the dog proceeds across the road in a straight line.
If there are cars approaching, the dog waits until the danger is gone and then follows the forward
command.
In a handler-guide dog team, the guide dog doesn't lead the handler and the handler doesn't
completely control the guide dog; the two work together to get from place to place. The guide
dog doesn't know where the destination is, so it must follow the handler's instructions of how far
to go and when to turn. The handler can't see the obstacles along the way, so the guide dog must
make its own decisions as to how to navigate the team's path. Each half of the team relies on the
other to accomplish the tasks at hand.
As a guide dog gets more experience with its handler, it may be able to take on even more
responsibility. For example, many veteran guide dogs know all of their master's usual
destinations. All the handler has to tell them is "go to the office" or "find the coffee shop," and
the guide dog will follow the complete route!
On the Job and After Hours
Guide dogs enjoy their work immensely, and they get a lot of satisfaction from a job well done,
but there is no room for typical dog fun during the work day. Games, treats and praise distract
the dog from helping its handler navigate the course. Even when the handler doesn't need
assistance, a guide dog on the job is trained to ignore distractions and keep still. This is because a
guide dog must be able to come to the handler's workplace or be in public places without
creating a disturbance.
When you see a guide dog on the job, it is extremely important that you recognize that it is at
work. Petting or talking to the dog breaks its concentration, which impairs the handler's ability to
get around in his or her surroundings. People are very impressed with guide dogs and so we have
a natural inclination to praise them, but the best thing you can do to help a guide dog is to leave it
alone so that it can pay attention to its surroundings and maintain its focus on its handler.
Guiding is very complicated, and it requires a dog's undivided attention.
When a guide dog gets home at the end of the day, however, it will play and soak up praise just
like an ordinary pet. Guide dogs make the distinction between work and play based on their lead
harness: When the harness is on, they must stay completely focused -- when it comes off, it's
play time. Guide dogs work very hard every day, but they lead extremely happy lives, full of lots
of attention and stimulation. Dogs only end up working as guide dogs if they absolutely love the
work. In fact, many handlers report that their dogs leap enthusiastically into the harness every
morning!
Where Guide Dogs Come From
Guide dogs come out of guide dog schools. Typically, these institutions provide guide dogs for
seeing-impaired people at no cost. Most schools are completely non-profit operations, primarily
funded by charitable donations. Some training schools specialize in certain aspects of training,
but many of them organize just about everything involved in setting up a guide dog with a
handler. This includes:
Breeding guide dogs
Arranging puppy raising programs for future guide dogs
Evaluating prospective guide dogs
Training guide dogs
Training instructors
Training handlers
Matching handlers with suitable dogs
Re-evaluating and retiring guide dogs
Placing retired dogs in new homes
Most guide dog schools use golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers or German shepherds.
These three breeds are characterized by intelligence, obedience, stamina and friendliness and so
are well suited for the job. Guide dog schools breed their dogs very carefully, choosing parents
with intelligence and special guiding ability.
Even with this attention to good breeding, many puppies don't turn out to be suited for the job.
At Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a respected guide dog school based in Yorktown Heights, New
York, trainers screen young puppies for guiding aptitude, and release 20 percent of them from
the program. Some of these puppies go on to organizations that train other sorts of service dogs - dogs that help people in wheelchairs, for example -- and the rest are sold as pets (with an
agreement that the dog will be spayed or neutered, in order to help control the pet population).
The other 80 percent of the puppies stay on the path to becoming guide dogs. As we'll see in the
following sections, the training is intense, the emotional level is high and everybody works very
hard. The results are truly amazing: Guide dogs completely change their handlers' lives!
Puppy Raisers
When they're ready to leave their mother, dogs that show a level of aptitude for guiding go to a
loving home to enjoy being a puppy and grow into a well-trained young adult.
These volunteer puppy raisers are just ordinary people who go through an application process
and training program at the guide dog school. The school screens for raising ability and works
with puppy raisers one-on-one to help them learn how to work with the puppy. In addition, the
school will generally provide the raisers with a manual and video that tells them almost
everything they need to know. The raiser's job is to teach the puppy obedience skills, expose the
puppy to all sorts of people and environments and give the puppy all the love and attention it
needs to grow into a happy, confident dog that is ready for guide training. Basically, raisers lay
the groundwork for the more extensive guide training to come.
One of the most important aspects of raising a future guide dog is to get it comfortable with all
kinds of situations. Socialization is important for any dog, but it is crucial for guide dogs, who
must be able to go anywhere without being distracted from their work. They must be accustomed
to loud noises, adverse weather conditions, crowds of people and tricky obstacles. A guide dog
needs to be confident in any situation its handler might experience. In Guiding Eyes for the Blind
puppy raising programs, raisers typically expose the puppies to at least five new experiences a
week.
In order to excel in advanced training later on, the puppy needs to get some experience with
obedience early in life. Guiding Eyes for the Blind teaches puppy raisers to first develop a good
working relationship with the dog. It is extremely important that future guide dogs are attentive
and responsive to their handlers, and that they have the self-confidence to handle complex
commands and stressful situations. The most important job of a puppy raiser is fostering these
qualities.
Raisers also teach puppies the basics of obedience -- to sit, lie down and walk correctly on a
leash -- and get them used to extensive training sessions several times a week. Raisers train the
puppy using leash corrections and praise, never treat rewards. It's very important that a future
guide dog not be fixated on food because when they're on the job, they will have to work without
the expectation of a reward and they will have to maintain concentration in restaurants and other
areas with food distractions.
Raising a future guide dog is a wonderful experience, but it is very difficult emotionally. At the
end of the puppy raising period, a little over a year, the puppy raiser must bring the dog back to
the training school so it can go on to help a blind or visually impaired person. Giving the dog up
after raising it for a year is a very sad experience, but puppy raisers are rewarded by the
satisfaction of contributing to the process. Most puppy raisers end up raising many future guide
dogs, because of the happiness it brings them.
If you're interested in raising a future guide dog, check the links at the end of the article or look
in the phone book for a guide dog school in your area. Guiding Eyes for the Blind has a number
of puppy training programs set up on the east coast of the United States -- check Guiding Eyes
Puppy Raising for a program in your area. Most schools have a comprehensive program that will
teach you everything you need to know to start a guide dog off right. If you love dogs and have
the time to care for a puppy, you can play a critical part in the guide dog training process.
Raising a Future Guide Dog by Mary Cantando
When my husband and I decided we wanted to raise a future guide dog, the first thing we found
out is that all puppy raisers go through a pretty thorough screening process. At Guiding Eyes for
the Blind, prospective raisers must complete an application process, attend meetings, and view
training videos. Following this orientation, local volunteers visit the home for an interview. We
went through this process last January, and a few weeks later, we met Sonar, the yellow Lab who
would be living with us for the next 18 months.
Using GEB's training method, we had Sonar housebroken in one day. The process is to take the
puppy to the same outdoor place once every hour or so. When he finally goes, we say in a very
positive voice, "Sonar, get busy" and then praise and pet him profusely. We did this a few times
and then, when we took him out, we said, "Sonar, get busy," and he did, right away! Now he will
only go on command. This is certainly an important skill for a future guide dog; after all, a
handler can't be walking down the street in Philadelphia and have his dog relieve itself -- that
would give people a very unfavorable impression of guide dogs.
Another interesting thing about guide dogs is that they go through doors differently than other
dogs. Before opening the door, I give the commands "Sonar, sit," and "Sonar, stay." Then I open
the door and say, "Sonar, let's go." Once I'm outside the door, I tell Sonar to sit and stay again.
After closing the door, I say "Sonar, let's go." This lets the handler know exactly where the dog
is and what it's doing while he locks or unlocks his door.
The puppies are evaluated every three months. At Sonar's eight-month evaluation, he received a
special coat that says "Guide Dog in Pre-Training." Since receiving his coat, Sonar has been
coming with us all over town, which is what the program encourages. He comes with me into the
grocery store and as I go over to check out the bananas, he sits on the floor next to my feet. I say,
"Sonar, let's go" and he immediately gets up and comes with me to the back of the store to get
coffee beans. He especially likes the checkout counter, as folks tend to make a fuss over him
there. I try to politely remind people that no one should touch a guide dog without first asking
the owner's permission. This is a hard for children to learn, but it's very important, as a guide dog
should not be distracted when he is working.
The question that people always ask when we tell them we're raising Sonar to be a guide dog is,
"How will you be able to give him up?" Here's how I look at it: We raised three children who
have moved on to live their own independent lives, and that's what we're doing with Sonar. It
will be tough to say goodbye when the time comes, but he's destined for great things, and I know
he will make all the difference in the world as a wonderful partner for someone.
Training Guide Dogs
Once it is grown-up, socialized and well-trained, the dog returns to the guide dog school for
evaluation. Guide dog instructors look for a number of qualities, including:
Intelligence
Willingness to learn
Ability to concentrate for extended periods of time
Attention to touch and sound
Good memory
Excellent health
Even if a dog has all these qualities, however, it may be a poor candidate for training. Instructors
screen out a lot of intelligent dogs because they have undesirable qualities, such as:
Aggressive tendencies
Nervous temperament
Extreme reaction to cats or other dogs
After the instructor has spent some time with a dog, he or she decides whether the dog is a good
candidate for guide dog training, not suited for guide dog training or not quite ready for guide
dog training.
In some schools, if a dog is suited for training but not quite ready, it may go back to the puppy
raiser for a month or so to mature. If a dog is simply not suited for training, the school will work
to place the dog in another line of work, such as tracking, or find it a permanent home, usually
offering it to the puppy raiser first. At Guiding Eyes for the Blind, only the top 50 percent of the
returning puppies will stay with the school -- so the school places a little over 400 puppies with
raisers each year, needing only 200 dogs for the training program. Of that 200, a small
percentage will become breeding stock, for Guiding Eyes or another school, and the rest will be
considered for the training program.
Training is a rigorous process for both the instructors and the dogs, but it's also a lot of fun. To
make sure the dogs are up to the challenge, most schools test them extensively before beginning
the training. The tests are designed to assess the dogs' self-confidence level, since only extremely
confident dogs will be able to deal with the pressure of guiding instruction. If a dog passes the
tests, it begins the training program right away.
Different schools have different programs, but typically, training will last four to five months. To
make sure the dogs master all the complex guide skills, the instructors have to introduce them to
each idea gradually. Once they have introduced what is expected of the dog, training is
essentially a matter of rewarding correct performance and punishing incorrect performance. This
works with dogs because they are pack animals and have a natural need to please an authority
figure. The instructor, and later the handler, is simply stepping into the place of the alpha dog,
the leader of the pack.
Unlike ordinary obedience training, guide dog training does not use food as a reward for good
performance. This is because a guide dog must be able to work around food without being
distracted by it. Instead, instructors use praise or other reward systems to encourage correct
performance. The standard means of correction is pulling on the dog's leash, so that it pulls a
training collar, giving the dog a slight pinch. Using this basic reward/punishment system,
instructors work through the necessary skills for guiding.
The first step is learning how to walk like a guide dog. This means walking in a straight line,
without being distracted by surrounding activity. It also means keeping pace to the left and just
ahead of the handler, and responding to leash corrections as well as verbal commands. Dogs
learn how to walk correctly by degrees. First, they are simply taught to move directly from point
to point. Then, the instructors steadily introduce greater and greater distractions, eventually
venturing out into malls and city streets, and correct the dog if it veers off course. The process,
which continues throughout the entire training program, is largely a matter of building up the
dog's concentration level so that even the most tempting distraction won't lure it off course.
The dogs are also learning to stop at curbs from the very beginning. This is one of the most
critical guide dog skills, because the safety of the handler depends on absolute mastery of the
concept. Once the dogs have learned to always stop at a curb, they must learn how to judge
potential dangers before crossing the street.
Many training schools have simulated street intersections on their campus so they can expose the
dogs to a number of traffic situations. The dogs learn how to handle themselves safely around
cars, and develop the ability to spot all sorts of potential dangers. This is the part of the training
that focuses on selective disobedience. To become a guide dog, each candidate must
demonstrate absolute mastery of crosswalk navigation.
One tricky part of training is teaching the dog to navigate obstacles with its handler in mind.
Dogs learn fairly quickly to take the wide path around objects in the handler's path, so the
handler won't trip over them. Learning how to deal with tight spaces is more difficult, but
through reward and correction, the instructor gradually demonstrates to the dog that it should
never go through a space that is too narrow or too low for its handler.
Additionally, dogs must learn a number of commands, must always stop for stairs and must
practice all of the other necessary skills until they become second nature. This is a lot to learn,
and not all dogs succeed in the program. At Guiding Eyes for the Blind, only about 72 percent
of dogs that enter the training program make it to graduation.
The dogs that do master all of the skills by the end of the training period go on to the next step in
the process: getting to know their handlers.
Forming a Team
The final stage of a guide dog's training is learning to work with its new master. Guide dog
training schools work very hard to match handlers with guide dogs according to the
compatibility of their personalities. A very energetic dog typically does well with a young
handler, while an older handler may need an especially careful partner. Schools often have a
special gathering to commemorate the time when a new class of guide dogs finally meet their
masters. Often, the dog's puppy raiser attends and meets with the new master as well. This is
perhaps the most emotional time in the entire training process.
After this introduction, guide dog instructors typically spend a month helping the new team learn
to work together. Many schools have dormitories for the handlers to stay in during this final
stage of training.
If the handler has never used a guide dog before, a lot of the instructor's work at this point is
actually people-training, not dog-training. The handler has to learn to read the dog's
movements, so he or she knows when the dog is turning or when the dog is stopping for a
crosswalk or stairs. Additionally, the handler has to learn all the commands the dog knows, and
must get some practice walking with the dog. The dog has to make the transition from obeying
the instructor to recognizing the handler as its new master. The handler and the dog spend a lot
of this time just getting to know each other, so they are comfortable enough to work as a team.
By the time they graduate from the guide dog school, they can read each other's every
movement.
Guide Dog Instructors
Guide dogs are typically trained by highly qualified instructors who are assisted by a number of
apprentice instructors. Procedures vary from school to school, but in general, trainers must spend
two to three years as a supervised apprentice before they can move up to a master instructor.
Different states have different certification processes for guide dog instruction.
Instructors and apprentice instructors are typically college graduates with a good deal of prior
experience dealing with both animals and people. Because most guide dog schools are non-profit
institutions, instructor pay is relatively low for the education level required; it is still, however, a
very difficult job to get. Openings don't come up all that often, and the competition is usually
pretty tight. Often, trainers work their way up to apprentice instructor by working with the school
on a lower level, such as raising guide dog puppies.
The job is extremely demanding intellectually, emotionally and physically. Instructors work very
hard for long hours, and they must constantly deal not only with difficult animals but also with
difficult people. It is definitely rewarding work, though. Instructors say they get a great deal of
satisfaction from helping a difficult dog master its job, and they're certainly very happy putting
together a functioning dog-and-handler team.
Retirement
Working as a guide dog requires peak physical and mental shape, so guide dogs typically retire
just before they enter old age. Older dogs are usually sharp enough to keep working, but they
may slow down a little, which hinders their ability to keep up with the brisk pace of their
handlers. Retirement is usually at age eight or 10; but some work for a little longer, and some
guide dogs retire earlier if they're having trouble with the work. A few dogs from the Guiding
Eyes for the Blind program are still working at age 13!
When a guide dog retires, the handler will get a new dog, but he or she may also have the option
to keep the retired dog as a pet. If the handler can't keep two dogs, then the guide dog school
looks for a new home for the retired dog. The school may track down the original puppy raisers,
or it may place the dog in a new loving home. Schools generally have a waiting list of people
who want to adopt a retiree. After all, former guide dogs are extremely intelligent and friendly
and have perfect manners -- who wouldn't want one? Giving a retired guide dog a loving home is
also an excellent way to help reward these amazing animals for a lifetime of hard, important
work.