Guide dogs undergo very specific training before being able to assist visually impaired people, according to our partner The Conversation.
This training revolves first around obstacle avoidance, then comes the learning of routes.
This insight was led by Carmel Nottle, Senior Lecturer in Human Movement and Clinical Exercise Physiology at the University of South Australia (Adelaide).
Thanks for your excellent question, Mia.
I know a bit about this topic because I have some experience in training and using a guide dog myself.
In addition, as part of my teaching work at the university, I work with several students leading research projects on these dogs.
The answer is actually quite simple.
Guide dogs, which are assistance dogs for people who are blind or have low vision, know where to go because they train a lot!
Like the way you learned to walk from home to school, or how adults know how to drive to different places without getting lost: it's because we repeat these trips several times that we manage to memorize them .
VIDEO:
How to become a guide dog - short film by the American association "Southeastern Guide Dogs"
As part of his training, the guide dog practices moving to some of the places that the person he will guide must go to on a regular basis.
It can be the ride from their home to the bakery or from their home to the bus or metro stop.
So, put simply, guide dogs “only” know how to get to and from familiar places.
Paths they have learned.
Identify the obstacles
Before they are taught these routes, a dog has to train a lot.
Knowing how to guide someone safely is much more important than knowing a particular route.
Let's take an example: you go to school on foot and on your way there is a branch.
If it is small you can step over it, if it is too big you will have to go around it.
Since a blind person will not see the branch, it is up to their guide dog to let them know it is there.
And how it does it will depend on the size of the branch.
Dogs must undergo special training to become guide dogs © Shutterstock (via The Conversation)
If it is small, the dog will be able to guide the person to avoid it.
If it is very big, he will block the person to make him understand that it is not necessary to continue.
This means that a large part of a guide dog's job is to let the person they are guiding know that there is an obstacle in their path.
You don't necessarily think about it, but there are many obstacles: steps, holes or a sidewalk that stops ...
Team working
Many people may think that a guide dog "tells" a person when they can cross a road;
But this is not true.
Our "DOGS" file
The dog will stop the person from walking on the road to let them know they have reached the end of the sidewalk.
It is then up to the person to listen around and decide if it is safe to cross the road.
It is the person who then tells the dog that it is possible to cross safely, and not the other way around!
Planet
Children's questions: "Do fish drink sea water?"
», Asks Torben (7 years old)
Science
Questions from children: "Why are our fingerprints unique?"
»Asks Oscar (8 years old)
This review was written by Carmel Nottle, Senior Lecturer in Human Movement and Clinical Exercise Physiology at the University of South Australia (Adelaide).
The original article was published on The Conversation website.
Declaration of interests
Carmel Nottle is affiliated with "Animal Therapies Limited".
Handicap
Animals
Dog
Blind
Video
The Conversation
Society