Blindenhund

Guide Dogs

What can we do to help the guide dog's work?

The first thing we need to establish is how to recognise guide dogs for the blind. Guide dogs wear harnesses, usually with a highlighted red cross. Blind people do not always carry white canes and this confuses some people.

We should not pat or caress guide dogs, their place is at their owners’ side. They are performing very important tasks and will unable to perform properly if distracted.
Do not feed or call the dogs, as they are not allowed to play while working.
If a guide dog is approaching with a blind person then we should put our own dog on a leash and make sure they are not disturbed.
Do not scare dogs who are working: e.g. with fireworks or various types of warning guns: to avoid a potentially dangerous situation the dog may lead the owner in the wrong direction.
Do not attempt to lead blind people if they have guide dogs to help them, do not try to point them in the direction you think is the correct one by pulling and tugging, because this might cause confusion for the pair.
Do not make the guide dogs’ already difficult job even harder; when parking cars make sure there is always enough space on the sidewalk for them to pass easily.
If the blind person and the guide dog are waiting at a pedestrian crossing, we should alert the owner when the lights switch to green (as the dog is unable to register the colour and changing of the lights) or when they can cross the road without interference.
Blind people with guide dogs should never use escalators; they can cause serious injuries to dogs. If we see them in such situations we should lead the pair to a flight of traditional stairs as they may be hidden from the dog’s view.
If the blind person and the dog are waiting at the bus-stop, we should ask them which bus they need and alert them when it arrives.
Guide dogs may accompany their owners to places where other dogs may not be allowed to enter: doctor’s office, shopping malls, etc. Please be patient and tolerant in such cases.
We should not require that the dog wears a muzzle, these dogs do not bite and there are already quite a few things the dog must pay attention to, let’s not make this job any more difficult.
If we are sitting in our car we should not ask blind people to cross by using the headlights or waving to them, we should call out and tell them that they can cross.
If we are helping blind persons we should never do this from or by standing on the dog’s side.

By respecting the above rules we will surely be able to observe the wonderful relationship based on trust of a blind person and his/her guide-dog.

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