Intro to Guide Dog Training

Series Summary

Guide dogs have been assisting blind and visually impaired people for years. Guide dogs are hard working animals. When they are with their handler, it is best not to distract them by petting or interacting with them. Guide dogs are important to the safety and well being of their owner while they are out in public. But you ask how are they trained to be so good at what they do? In this free educational video series, let a guide dog training expert show you how these animals are made into functional assistants. First, he describes exactly what a guide dog is and does. He then explains what breeds make the best assistants, how they are breed and the length of time it takes to train them. He also mentions laws that apply to guide dogs and when it is alright to assist someone with a dog across the street.

Video Transcript

"O.k., so what does a guide dog do? Our dogs are trained to guide people who are blind or visually impaired, through the everyday hustle and bustle of life. To take them safely from A to B. And coping with the everyday obstacles. Lamp posts, pavements, curb edges, people, other pedestrians, all that sort of thing. So, here we have Greg, who's our Canine Vision - Canada head trainer, and he's got Mambo, who's a yellow Labrador, and Greg is going to work through the obstacle course we've set up. So you can see a little bit of what our dogs do. O.k., so here we're got Greg and Mambo working through the obstacle course, you'll see Mambo deciding which way to go, giving Greg plenty of clearance. So that he's keeping him safe, he's not bumping him into any obstacles. We train our dog guide to have a level of initiative that is really extra ordinary really. They have to make unprompted decisions, they have to take the path they feel is safe with no help from their owner or handler. You'll see him giving Greg plenty of clearance there. So he's not bumping him into any obstacles. He's really looking out for him. So, here we have Mambo looking to find the door, Greg's encouraging him to find the door. And there he goes, and again, this is something that is really useful. If you're blind or visually impaired and you're looking for the door and not quite sure where it is, the dog can take you straight to it."