Guide dogs training, a necessity!

The Taiwan Guide Dog Association asked for public support on Sunday for a plan to establish a guide dog training school to benefit the visually impaired. To raise public awareness of the importance of guide dogs to the visually impaired, association sponsored a dog carnival on Sunday at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. TGDA Secretary-General Chen Chang-chin said that while there are currently approximately 50,000 visually impaired individuals in Taiwan, there are only 14 certified guide dogs on the island. "All the guide dogs we have right now were trained in another country," Chen said. "We have a severe shortage of trained professionals and guide dog training schools in Taiwan. He said that in an effort to solve the problem, the association has decided to build more guide dog training schools.

He said that the total cost of construction is estimated at NT$600 million, but the association has only been able to raise NT$100 million since it launched the proposal last year. "We need everyone's help to safeguard and protect the rights of the visually impaired community," he said. Chang Chiu-hsiung, the standing counsel for the TGDA, pointed out although the law allows adult guide dogs or puppy trainees to have access to commercial and business venues and to board public transportation, many business owners still refuse to let the animals into their stores.

"Our main slogan this year is 'Don't Refuse'," he said, explaining that all guide dogs have been carefully selected and professionally trained. He stressed that trained guide dogs have usually have a mild temperament and do not bark or bite unless provoked or if they dog sense a need to protect their owners. "The dogs function as the eyes of their owners.

We hope the public will be more understanding and accepting of these canine helpers, " Chang said. Guide dogs, or sometimes known as blind-seeing eye dogs usually begin their training when they are around six to eight weeks old. On average, the dogs have work life of seven years and can have several different owners within this period. The TGDA is also seeking volunteer foster homes for the dogs. Volunteers would be required to take care of the dogs until they are taken to training school.

For more information on this type of training, we invite you to visit the following sites: http://dogtraining.findoutnow.org and http://labrador-retrievers.findoutnow.org