Guide Dogs

School Founded:

Since 1996 guide dogs are a reality in Portugal, and so our country wasn’t anymore the only that didn’t have that precious help for blind people. The School Escola Beira Aguieira, in Mortágua was the first to add to this Project. They try to give to those people quality and a better life. A blind person doesn’t have to pay for the dog.

Race of the dog:

The race they use is Retriever Labrador.

1st Year of life:

They initiate the technique work with the dog after birth and after it get’s 12 months old. The dog’s first year is spent in a family, wich get’s help from the school trainers, medical help and food for the dog.

Initiation of the dog as a guide:

After the dog completed one year, and is considered able for that kind of responsibility, the animal initiates his specific education in a school, these training takes 4-6 or 10 to 12 months (depending on the dog), so that the dog and his new owner can establish a compatible relationship. But every dog must have 2 years experience before it can be a guide.

Number of dogs in School:

They got 28 dogs in families; 10 are getting trained; 9 partnerships are built and 72 people are still waiting for a Guide Dog.

Team:

Each dog is followed by a Vet, 2 guide dog trainers and an “adoptive family”, etc.

Costs:

The actual costs of one guide dog are near 15 000 Euros.

The 3 guide dog trainer in Portugal had to go 2 years to France to learn how to educate the animals. They can prepare 4 dogs a year, so the school tries hard to offer 12 guide dogs a year.

Since 1999, 49 guide dogs were offered to unvisuals, but there are still around 60 people waiting for their guide.

The principal function of the dog is to keep his owner safe, by crossing the street and help to go shopping, grab a taxi, finds the payshop, or a telephone.

The dog has to have a good memory, so that it learns fast, and memorizes a lot of information and never forgets what it learned. It can’t have any sign of aggressivety because it can be bad for his relationship with its owner and its owner’s relationship to other people.

The dog has to be very obedient so that it only disobeys if its owner puts his security in danger. The dog has to adapt good to new situations, because it 1^st is in a family, later with the trainer and finaly with the new owner. Those are the reasons why the retriever Labrador is elected in Portugal.

You can read more on the site of CPUC, which has all the information about guide dogs and how their owners feel since they have a guide dog in Portuguese.

Image from www.cpuc.org.pt