Puppies alert to, but not alarmed by, the sirens

Today, a group of ten Labrador puppies, aged from 15 weeks to 14 months, got up close and personal with fire trucks at the Roma Street Fire Station in Brisbane.

The event was one of the many socialisation activities the puppies experience at an early age, on their journey to becoming a fully trained Seeing Eye Dog.

Bev Brocklehurst, Instructor at Seeing Eye Dogs Australia said that it is essential that the puppies learn how to react to loud noises in everyday situations, especially emergency sirens.

“Some dogs are known to become stressed when
they hear loud or sharp sounds, such as a thunderstorm or an emergency siren. A Seeing Eye Dog must learn to remain calm in these situations. 

“As part of their early training program we take the puppies to an emergency services station to familiarise them with the sirens, as well as the horns and flashing lights. With positive reinforcement we train them to remain calm and be alert to the noises, but not alarmed by them,” said Bev.

Seeing Eye Dogs is part of Vision Australia, Australia’s largest national blindness agency offering a suite of integrated services to the blindness and low vision community. As the only truly national provider of dog guide services, Vision Australia’s Seeing Eye Dogs has placed dogs in every state and territory, with more than 200 dogs, currently working nation-wide.

Vision Australia’s Seeing Eye Dogs puppy caring program is manned exclusively by volunteers, who under the guidance of a puppy development officer, teach basic obedience, house manners and eating and toileting on command. 

The puppies also learn how to travel on different forms of transport, and visit places that their future owners are likely to go to, such as a workplace, shopping centre or restaurant.

Currently, 25 Australians a day learn that they will lose their sight and this number is expected to rise to 80 people per day by 2020, making the work of Vision Australia’s Seeing Eye Dogs all the more vital to the community.

“Training each Seeing Eye Dog is a major investment both financially and time-wise. It costs tens of thousands of dollars, and takes almost two years.

“Seeing Eye Dogs are extremely intelligent and make an incredible difference to a person who is blind or has low vision.

“With their dog by their side, our clients can remain mobile, independent and live the life they choose,” concluded Bev.