【on site】
Forward, good girl, find the way.
[Commentary] Li Yuanzhen from Hong Kong is a guide dog instructor certified by the International Guide Dog Federation and is now the principal of the Guangzhou Guide Dog School.
She liked small animals since she was a child. By chance, she applied to become a foster family of guide dogs. She began to work as guide dogs and became an international guide dog instructor.
[Explanation] In 2019, Li Yuanzhen gave up good job opportunities overseas and chose to go to Guangzhou for guide dog training.
She wants to make the Guangzhou guide dog training model more mature and make it safer for visually impaired people to use guide dogs.
[Concurrent] Li Yuanzhen, the principal of Guangzhou Guide Dog School, Hong Kong trainer
Having worked mainly in the guide dog industry in Hong Kong for a long time, that was a time when I wanted to change the environment.
At that time, I considered going to the United States, because I had been to the United States to train, study, and communicate, and then I happened to know that Guangzhou was developing guide dogs (career).
I have also asked some foreign teachers and seniors for their opinions, and the advice they gave me is that if you go to work in some mature schools, you can continue to do what you like happily.
But if you are not afraid of hard work, if you try to go to Guangzhou and bring my knowledge and skills to Guangzhou, it may be of great help to the development of guide dogs in Guangzhou.
[Commentary] Li Yuanzhen said that as a working dog, guide dogs must undergo strict screening and training before "taking jobs", and every detail of the training is related to the safety of visually impaired people.
The dog trainer should teach them to think, train them to lead the way and find the target ability.
[Concurrent] Li Yuanzhen, the principal of Guangzhou Guide Dog School, Hong Kong trainer
We will now start a blindfolded training (blindfolded walking test) where the trainer will wear a blindfold like a visually impaired friend.
What our guide dogs have learned is to use them all in the blindfolded walking test without the trainer's prompting, and safely lead the trainer around all obstacles.
When the trainer passes by, he may kick the obstacles on the ground, the guide dog will stop voluntarily, and the dog food and toys will be deliberately (placed) on the ground to distract the guide dog.
[Commentary] When Li Yuanzhen first arrived in Guangzhou, he encountered many difficulties due to the short start of the guide dog business. For example, when dog trainers train guide dogs, they will encounter a lot of inconvenience and discrimination when entering and leaving public places such as supermarkets and bus stops. .
But for Li Yuanzhen, the biggest difficulty is the lack of mentors.
[Concurrent] Li Yuanzhen, the principal of Guangzhou Guide Dog School, Hong Kong trainer
A truly qualified guide dog trainer takes a long time to train.
In his training stage, according to the standards of the International Guide Dog Federation, the instructor should go out with the trainer to train and guide him every day.
But because there is only one person, but there are several trainers, I spend all the time with them every day to do training.
[Commentary] Li Yuanzhen said that although the training of guide dogs is strict, there is no forced behavior. If the dog cannot meet the standard in the training, he will let him withdraw from the training and find a suitable social family for him.
In Li Yuanzhen's eyes, guide dogs can bring visually impaired people a more independent and dignified life, which is her motivation to persist in this job.
[Concurrent] Li Yuanzhen, the principal of Guangzhou Guide Dog School, Hong Kong trainer
In fact, guide dogs bring visually impaired friends a more confident, free and independent life.
In many cases, if he does not have the help of a guide dog, he may go out or do many things because of the limitation of his eyesight, and he will need the help of his family.
But if they have the help of a guide dog, they can do many things on their own. For example, he can be safely led by the guide dog to where he wants to go, and they can go to work and school by themselves.
They tell us that, in addition to practical help, there is also a good companionship on their minds.
That's what we think is helpful to them, and it's what makes us want to do this (guide dog training) well.
[Explanation] After years of hard work, Guangzhou's acceptance of guide dogs is getting higher and higher.
Many citizens have paid attention to the growth of guide dogs through the "Cloud Adoption" online project, and funded the development of guide dog schools.
At present, the school plans to train 18 guide dogs every year that can serve the society, but the number and speed of training are far from keeping up with the demand. This is what Li Yuanzhen and colleagues are trying to solve.
[Concurrent] Li Yuanzhen, the principal of Guangzhou Guide Dog School, Hong Kong trainer
Now mainly rely on social resources to integrate, I personally think this trend is getting better and better.
I hope that the public will better understand that there are actually many different disadvantaged groups around us, and we need to accommodate them reasonably.
Therefore, we hope that everyone will be more accepting and tolerant of guide dogs, so that whether it is a guide dog in training, they have more opportunities to train better, or a guide dog at work will not encounter so many in the work. Obstacles and Denials.
(Reported by reporter He Junjie and Cai Minjie in Guangzhou)
Responsible editor: [Li Ji]