In Taiwan, various kinds of guide dogs are developed. Becoming a guide dog isn’t that familiar to pet dogs since not every type of dog is suitable for this job. The whole family has to be guide dogs so their child can also become one. The three breeds Taiwan is using now are Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, their breeding called Golden Labrador. Labrador Retriever has a mild personality, has high obedience, and very strong learning ability. It is mainly used in Taiwan including guide dogs and drug dogs. Golden Retriever is also very intelligent and likes to get along with people. It is easy to train. Even though they are very active, they are also surprisingly patient. They can sit still for hours and they’re genetically born with this due to their ancestors that have great hunting skills. The breed Golden Labrador has both Labrador Retriever and Golden Retriever’s advantages. Golden Labrador has a simple mind, and is very smart. To prevent recessive genetic disorders, countries around the world exchange puppies.
The puppies from 0-2 months and two months after birth will be nursed by the dog's mother, allowing him to get along with his mother and siblings. 2 months to one year is the foster family period. After that, they will live in their foster family until the dog reaches one. At this stage, the dog will have two different pieces of training, indoor habit training, and socialization training. In the indoor habits training section, he will learn common life routines such as not urinating or cluttering furniture, as well as some basic commands. In social training foster families will take their dogs to public places and take public transportation. Dogs are trained professionally from one to two years of age. When the puppy is one year old, it will return to school for professional training as a guide dog. According to Huikuang's website, the training section is mainly divided into three stages: Primary, Intermediate, and Advanced. The primary level is being able to walk in a straight line, stop at intersections, and have the ability to go up and downstairs. The intermediate level is avoiding obstacles, finding locations, and taking public transportation. Last but not least, the advanced stage is the ability to judge road conditions, blindfolded tests by trainers, etc. After passing the tests, it will become a qualified guide dog. 2 to 8 years old is the working period. After pairing with a suitable visually impaired person, the dog needs to be familiar with the living environment of the visually impaired person and cultivate a tacit understanding with the visually impaired person. Next, after the guide dog enters the official duty stage, the instructor will regularly check the condition and usage of the guide dog. If there is a need for adjustment, the instructor will strengthen the guide dog. The last is the retirement period over the age of 8-10. The instructor will judge whether the guide dog can continue to work according to the physical condition and age of the guide dog. If not, he would be sent to a host family for retirement.
A proper guide dog is a dog that has passed all of the guide dog tests and training. Before training, puppies have to go through eight tests: Follow, retrieve, restraint, noise, stroking, squirrel, tunnel, and ramp. They have to be smart, calm, fast-learning, non-aggressive and be in a healthy condition in order to pass all the tests. After the puppies pass the tests, they will have to go through three to four years of training and become guide dogs.