Training

Guide dogs training by the Foundation is a very long process, taking about 2 years.

Purchased puppies (selected in a special assessment when they are 7-8 weeks old) are given to puppy risers (volunteers) and stay with them ‘till they are 12-14 months old.

This is the time for upbringing, socializing, learning to travel on trams and buses, entering shops and offices. Puppy risers are visited by a Foundation’s trainer, who assists them with his advise and help.

At the age of 6 and 12 months the puppies are assessed again to check if they are ready for the next phase of training. The special guide dog training takes about 6 months. The basic guide dog’s skills are: announcing down and up kerbs, leading in the center of the sidewalk, passing by horizontal and vertical obstacles, neglecting smells, dogs, cats and birds, announcing and looking for stairs, proper leading on stairs, looking for doors, free seats/space, picking things up, obedience. To become a guide dog, the dog has to pass an exam. There are three parts of the exam:

• leading on regular route
• leading in unknown area
• obedience

All elements receive special points and the examined dog’s instructor takes the exam together with this dog, being blindfolded. The examiner is Ivana Balazova, the instructor from Slovakia. The dog, that passed the exam, is handed over to a blind person. The handing over process takes about 2-3 weeks and takes place at this person’s residence. Dogs and their new handlers are matched by height/size, temperament and life style. When the puppies live with puppy risers, all expenses related to the upbringing, health acre and feeding are covered by the Foundation. A guide dog trained by the Foudation is owned its whole life by the Foundation. It is given free to the blind person for service. The Foundation takes care of a retired guide dog when the blind handler cannot or doesn’t want to keep this dog as a pet.