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Ada Lee

The local Guide Dogs Association is preparing to send up to three people to Britain to learn how to train guide dogs.
It said eight candidates had been shortlisted and were currently being tested by two experts from Britain. Two or three of them will spend two years being trained in Britain from October. They will return to Hong Kong and will become accredited after a year of training puppies here.
They will be paid HK$13,000 a month for their first year of training, which will gradually go up until they are earning a monthly salary of HK$20,000 to HK$24,000 as fully accredited trainers.
The association is also seeking land to build kennels.
Raymond Cheung Wai-man, who set up his own group, Seeing Eye Dog Services, is at present the only accredited trainer in Hong Kong. He has trained two guide dogs, Google and Iris, who are assisting two visually impaired Hongkongers. He is currently training two more puppies -Tovi and Walker.
Four other guide dogs were imported from the United States - Deanna, Nana, Nera, and Rally - to assist locals here with the help of the Society for the Blind and the Guide Dogs Association.
Linda Cooper and Lyn Owen, of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association in Britain, and here to test the candidates, said they were seeking those who could relate to people and dogs. "We're looking at potential, so they don't have to be great dog trainers at this stage," Cooper said.
Candidates go through written and practical tests, including giving instructions to a dog and guiding a blindfolded person. A university degree is not necessary but they should be able to demonstrate a capacity for study.
The British association separates training duties - the guide dog trainer, who focuses on the puppies, and mobility instructors, who match clients with dogs and train the pair together. The Hong Kong candidates would learn both skills, Cooper said.
Eight to 12 mobility instructors graduate from the training school each year and the association breeds about 1,100 puppies a year, of which 70 per cent eventually become guide dogs.
Cooper said it was essential the association trained its own dogs here. "Any country that has people who are blind or partially sighted needs to be able to provide a service that allows them to lead an independent life as much as possible, and for some people, a guide dog is perfect."
Owen said it would be much better for a client and a dog to be trained locally. "If you get dogs from another country, traffic comes from a different side, so you will have to retrain the traffic training," she said.


Applicants put through their paces

Trade Ip May-yin with Rally, and Andy Chan Kam-chau with Nera.

News

Hong Kong

Potential trainers will be sent to Britain to learn how to get more guide dogs helping people here


The local Guide Dogs Association is preparing to send up to three people to Britain to learn how to train guide dogs. It said eight candidates had been shortlisted and were currently being tested by two experts from Britain.
