The Life of a Guide Dog: Learning to Obey More Than 30 Commands And Losing "Love"

Source: Yangtze Evening News

Jiangsu's first guide dog "Zhuangzhuang" retired (this newspaper reported on July 30, 2020), Changzhou blind tuina master Ding Zhiqiang applied for the guide dog "Oudi" to replace "Zhuangzhuang" as his "eyes". September 17 is the first day of the "Ou Di" job. What kind of spark will the seniors who have retired for half a month meet the guide dog Xinding on the first day of work? The Purple Cow News reporter came to them to find out.

Purple Cow News reporter Ma Ben Guo Jingyu

1

Guide dog "OuDi"

Graduated at the age of 1 year and 8 months

"Of the five guide dogs in this batch, Ou Di is the youngest, only 1 year and 8 months old, and the older ones are about 3 years old." Ding Zhiqiang of the Tiandao Blind Massage Shop flew to Dalian alone on August 24, and after more than 20 days of training, he finally got back his second guide dog: "Ou Di".

"There are not many guide dogs that can pass the training and examination within the age of 2 and finally take up their posts." On the morning of September 17, the Purple Cow News reporter came to Ding Zhiqiang's tuina shop, and he introduced the new partner to the reporter, "Ou Di is a jumper in the guide dog at this age." ”

These guide dogs have to undergo rigorous training at the Dalian Training Base for Guide Dogs in China, and the elimination rate is very high. "Guide dogs also have graduation exams, and trainers will wear all-black eye masks for testing, and only by passing the graduation exam can they be matched with blind people who apply for guide dogs." Ding Zhiqiang said that after he and Ou Di had a period of time, he also had to take an exam, mainly to test whether he could control the guide dog. "I passed it once, and some people need to make up the exam." If you fail the retake exam once, you cannot adopt. ”

Ding Zhiqiang flew back to Changzhou on the evening of September 16. "The airline learned that I was going to fly with a guide dog, and when only one ticket was purchased, three seats were set aside, and Ou Di was lying at my feet during the flight."

The "Ou Di" who took the plane for the first time was a little nervous, and when the plane took off and landed and encountered bumps, it would sit up vigilantly. "Because zhuangzhuang sits on the plane more often, every time he takes it out to play, he sleeps on his feet." Ding Zhiqiang said.

2

The first time I arrived at the store, I showed the true color of "warm man"

At 10:00 a.m. on the 17th, when the reporter came to the Tiandao Blind Massage Shop, Ding Zhiqiang was performing pediatric massage for a child, and "Ou Di" was lying on the side watching intently. "It was the first day I came to the store, and the first time I saw me working, it should feel fresh."

Purple Cow News reporter saw at the scene that "Oudi" is quite sensitive to various sounds outside the store, and if a vehicle honks its horn, it will turn its head to observe.

During the massage process, Ding Zhiqiang let the child get up and said "get up", and Ou Di immediately sat up and entered the working state. "Tell it at this time, not shout at it, and instruct him to continue to lie down."

The reporter saw that during the massage process, when the children were crying, Ou Di immediately showed his warm male nature and came over with concern. "When he was training in Dalian, Ou Di saw the trainer's child crying, so he grabbed his own toy, and then held the toy high for the children to show to comfort each other." Ding Zhiqiang said that sometimes when the toy is not found, Ou Di simply grabs a shoe to go to the children, because it feels that the shoes are very fun for it, and the children should also like it.

3

The encounter between the old and new guide dogs is hilarious

Because the original foster family gave up the adoption of the retired guide dog "Zhuangzhuang", Ding Zhiqiang's application was approved, and "Zhuangzhuang" was able to continue to stay at home. So how do the two guide dogs get along in the days to come?

"The first meeting when I came back was very exquisite, I couldn't take Ou Di home directly, I had to let them meet downstairs first." On the evening of the 16th, Ding Zhiqiang came downstairs with "Ou Di", and his family also took "Zhuangzhuang" down. After some introduction, the two guide dogs have a preliminary understanding. "When you go home, let Ou Di go to the door first, if zhuang zhuang goes back first, it will feel that there are invaders in his territory." Ding Zhiqiang said that after returning home, "Ou Di" followed him step by step because he came to an unfamiliar environment. "When I slept at night, Ou Di slept on the ground on my side, and Sturdy slept on my wife's side."

When I went out on the morning of the 17th, the "strong" who had rested for more than 20 days was ready to enter the working state, Ding Zhiqiang patted it and said: "You retire, have a good rest, and come to the store to play during the day." I had just been gone for a few days and heard it was depressed. "Ding Zhiqiang said that at present, the two dogs get along quite well." Ou Di would like to play with ZhuangZhuang, and puppies should all like to play with big dogs. However, ZhuangZhuang was a bit 'disgusted' with Ou Di, thinking that it was a hairy child who didn't understand anything, and was unwilling to take care of it. ”

The reporter saw in the Tuina shop that during the noon break, "Zhuangzhuang" was also sent to the store by Ding Zhiqiang's family. "Ou Di" immediately came to the spirit and wanted to play with "Zhuangzhuang", but "Zhuangzhuang" had a serious face and deliberately twisted his head. Seeing that "ZhuangZhuang" ignored himself, "Ou Di" simply turned his feet to the sky and twisted on the ground, making Ding Zhiqiang and the clerk laugh.

"Compared with the strong, Ou Di is more lively, on the one hand, there may be some differences in personality, on the other hand, it is indeed relatively young." Ding Zhiqiang said that he would restrain according to the requirements of the trainer next, believing that "Ou Di" would also be a very good guide dog.

■ News extension

17.31 million: 200

According to CCTV News, data from the China Association for the Blind in May 2019 showed that there are currently 17.31 million visually impaired people in the country, while the number of existing guide dogs is less than 200. China Guide Dog Dalian Training Base is the first guide dog domestication base in mainland China, according to the CCTV reporter, since its establishment in 2006, it has successfully trained more than 180 guide dogs. This means that in the vast majority of cities, the number of guide dogs may be few, and some cities do not even have one.

According to the standards of the International Guide Dog Alliance, only when more than 1% of visually impaired people in a country use guide dogs, it can be called the popularization of guide dogs. According to China's 17.31 million visually impaired population, the number of guide dogs should be around 170,000. In terms of the penetration rate of guide dogs, the world's major developed countries have not reached the standard. But China's gap is even greater in both absolute number and penetration.

The Life of a Guide Dog:

Learn to obey more than 30 commands

Losing "Love"

According to the surging news, as early as before birth, guide dogs were "planned" for a lifetime. According to the National Standard for Guide Dogs, it needs to have a complete pedigree, three generations of clear origin, and no aggression. Before entering service, a guide dog will go through about 2 years of foster care and training, learn to obey more than 30 kinds of commands, and remember more than 5 destinations. In order to ensure the stability of the personality of the guide dog, in the work to exclude the interference of external dogs of the opposite sex, unless selected as a breeding dog, guide dogs will generally be sent to sterilization.

From the moment they come to the blind, guide dogs will be accompanied by their owners for 8-10 years, and their lifespan is generally only 10-15 years, almost becoming the "eyes" of blind people in their lifetime.

In addition to the strict selection of breeds and the time-consuming breeding time, another reason for the scarcity of guide dogs is that the breeding price is very high. According to reports, the current price of training a guide dog is 250,000 yuan to 290,000 yuan. Blind people can apply for guidance to the dog breeding base and obtain the right to use guide dogs for free, but they need to have the basic economic ability to bear the daily expenses of guide dogs (food, epidemic prevention, health, medical treatment, etc.).

Guide dogs are selected before birth, and after experiencing family foster care and professional training, they wear three certificates and one uniform (three certificates are "Dog Registration Certificate", "Vaccine Certificate", "Guide Dog Use Certificate", and one is a red overalls printed with "Guide Dogs" and "Disabled Persons' Federation") in order to "take up work".