Guide dogs

What do guide dogs do?

 Guide dogs assist blind and visually impaired individuals with going their way safely and independently. The guide dog is specially trained in:

• Navigating past obstacles on a walking path, both in relation to earth and in head height (tree branches and street signs for example).
• Preventing the handler from stumbling on curbs or stairs.
• Stopping at all intersections.
• Passing streets safely by avoiding being in the way of cars and other vehicles.
• Obeying multiple orders given by the handler.

A guide dog is defined as an assistive device for mobility, just like the white cane. Decisions on where to go are completely in the handler‘s hands, he directs the dog. The handler is in constant communication with the dog in order to direct the journey to the destination. That‘s why it‘s necessary for the handler to be very clear on directions in the environment that he is walking, knows where he is and where he‘s going.

Who have a use for guide dogs?

Blind and visually impaired individuals, who have a good handle on using the white cane and have a good ability to navigate from landmarks and various stimuli in the environment, can use a guide dog. Guide dogs are in some countries only allotted to those who are legally blind, but in Iceland and our neighbour countries guide dogs are also allotted to those who are visually impaired.
 The following points are taken into account when deciding on who is allotted a guide dog:

• The applicant‘s disability caused by blindness or visual impair-ness and the difficulties it brings the one in question with attending to his jobs, interests and duties.
• The need for a guide dog due to active participation in society.
• Sense of direction and competence in using the white cane.
• The magnitude and variety of routes that the individual has already learnt while using the white cane.
• The applicant‘s physical strength, constitution and sense of balance.
• Determination and ability to maintain the role of a leader in communications with the dog.
• Circumstances that make a regular and varied use of the dog in the role he has been trained for possible.
• The applicant‘s reliability and ability to meet the needs of the dog in respect to care, companionship and warmth
• The applicant‘s age and maturity. There is no upper limit, but the applicant needs to be at least 18 years of age.

What happens when an application has been approved?

It’s not fully certain that an applicant gets a guide dog even if an application has been approved. Before he’s paired with a dog, an applicant goes through an extensive evaluation and introduction process where the individual’s needs are defined better and a final estimation is done on his ability to use a guide dog to the fullest and meet the needs of the dog. This process also introduces the applicant better to what keeping and using a guide dog consists of. A final decision on whether an individual gets, or accepts, a guide dog is therefore not taken before the evaluation and introduction process is finished. The handler does not necessarily need to have made a final decision on whether or not he wants a guide dog when applying for one. By applying one is simply opening for the possibility for going into an extensive researching and evaluation process. Applicants attend a full-time introductory course with dog trainers for about one week on this stage. The next step is to pair up dog and man if it comes to light that an applicant has the willingness and ability to use a guide dog.

Qualities, needs and personalities of guide dogs, just like the qualities of the people using them, are different. It is important to pair up dog and man before a dog is chosen and formal training with handler and guide dog begins. In order to be able to choose the correct dog for each and every applicant, it is important that dog trainers get to know potential handlers well, for instance in regards to physical strength, walking speed, personality and household circumstances. After all this begins training with the dog on the handler’s home ground. This training takes place with the dog trainer and is at first considerably extensive. Not until after it has finished does the handler start to use the dog’s guidance in the mobility of daily life. A dog trainer then visits handlers once to twice a year in order to evaluate progress and deliver further guidance and retraining as required.

How long is a guide dog’s usual period of employment?

Guide dogs are typically ready to start working around two and a half year old. The dogs are specially chosen with their personality and their ability to learn in mind. They are introduced to various stimuli as puppies, and that’s how they are prepared to deal with multiple situations which they will get involved in when they start working. Obedience training is naturally important. Initial training leaves only those dogs that are considered to have potential for succeeding as guide dogs to be trained further. Their average period of employment is between six and eight years, but some can work for up to ten years.

Are guide dogs allowed everywhere?

According to regulation working guide dogs are allowed to go with its handler to all places that are open to the general public. This includes all shops and businesses, restaurants, hotels and inns, swimming pools, sport houses, theatres, buses and planes. The handler does not need to pay for the dog while travelling with it in public means of transportation (such as in plains) and the dog shall always follow the handler, rather than being put with the luggage.

Is it O.K. to pet guide dogs?

It is not O.k. to pet a guide dog when it’s doing its job. When a guide dog has a leash it is without exception indicating that it’s working. When a guide dog only has a strap and not a leash is it probably O.K. to pet it, but it’s nonetheless a good custom to ask for permission from the handler first. Guide dogs are very human loving and gladly want to be petted. They are however trained to maintain a high level of composure and to show minimum responses to other people and animals while working.

Are guide dogs more intelligent than other dogs?

Guide dogs are chosen with certain abilities in mind. They are loyal to their owners and are easy to control. They are not necessarily more intelligent than other dogs though, but they are certainly more trained. It’s important to keep in mind that a good guide dog takes few independent decisions. It follows a few but very important rules, such as walking a predetermined distance from the edge of the pavement, going around obstacles and not following their instinct in regard to paying attention to other animals or smells while working. It follows few and simple instructions, for example to make the next right or left turn or to stop at the next intersection, bench or certain doors when getting close to a house. Decisions on where to go and method of arrival there are completely in the handler’s hands. The handler does not travel from his home and ask the dog to go to the milk product part of the supermarket and take a short stop at the post house then visit his friend for a short while on the way home. The handler guides the dog nearly every step with encouragements and instructions.

Are guide dogs always working?

Guide dogs are very disciplined and obedient when they have a leash and are at work. They are just like normal pet dogs in between. They find it very fun to run freely, sniff around and mark their places or play with their owners and other dogs. Guide dogs are certainly very loyal to their owners. All the times handler and dog spend together usually cause very strong bonds of friendship to form. The dogs are typically very dear to their handlers and many say that they comes their best and most loyal friends. In the training of the dog and the dog trainer’s support for the handlers is heavy emphasis put on the bonds of friendship between handler and dog. It is important that the handler is able to show much determination and decisiveness in certain situations but also much warmth and love with others. The work relationship is impossible for a long period of time without the bonds of friendship. If a guide dog lives with a handler who has a family is it important that the handler himself is first and foremost involved in the most pleasurable times in the life of the dog, such as around feeding, games and free outdoor time.

Do many expenses follow getting and having a guide dog?

People that fulfil certain conditions for having a guide dog get one allotted, either by a government institution or special guide dog societies, that are supported by scholarships or the societies’ fund raising. The handler typically neither pays for the dog itself nor its trainer. The caring of the dog can be expensive for the handler, however, for example due to fodder, veterinarians, registrations or insurances. Most neighbour countries have the expenses kept to the minimum with the help of support groups that subsidize fodder and veterinarian related costs.

It should be kept in mind that a fully trained guide dog does not start working until around two and a half years old. Extensive time is put into the training of the dog. More dogs are also trained than the once that in the end manage to fulfil the requirements and graduate as guide dogs. It’s therefore quite clear that behind each working guide dog lie many investments and much hard work which make guide dogs very expensive assistive devices. A well-trained guide dog is presumed to cost somewhere around six and eight million ISK. today. This amount is certainly high, so nobody should wonder over the importance of evaluating needs, circumstances and abilities of a potential handler for utilising the use of a guide dog as an assistive device in mobility before he is allotted one. In spite of high expenses it is nonetheless still considered profitable to invest in such an assistive device. Even if the unaccountable feeling of freedom and independence the dog can provide its handler is left unmentioned, if a dog is given as having a successful eight year period of employment are the daily expenses around 2000 ISK., or what constitutes the price of one taxi trip.

Does a lot of responsibility follow having a guide dog?

A lot of responsibility follows all house animals and guide dogs are no exception there. A well working guide dogs feels good and has its physical and emotional needs met. Attention needs to be paid to correct fodder and tending on the fur and claws of the dog. It is necessary to secure an ordered and varied outdoor time. One important thing is to praise the dog regularly, show it warmth and caring. In order to keep the responsibility that follows owning a guide dog, the handler must attend to certain tasks nearly without exception. Attending to those tasks usually ends up just as rewarding for both dog and man though.