'Puppy walkers' are individuals or families who volunteer to raise and socialise the young dogs. The pup lives with his or her family until it is around 1 5-21 months, depending on maturity, before returning to the RNZFB ' s GDS for assessment and training as a guide dog. The pups are taught basic obedience ("down", "sit", "stay", "come" etc.) and are introduced to situations they will face as guides such as noisy traffic, restaurants, shopping malls, public transport, rural situations and crowds. The
3 -Background: Guide Dogs in Society dog is identified as a guide dog puppy by the wearing of a red coat when it is in a public setting. The opportunity to become a puppy walker is available to volunteers around New Zealand provided they have the time and a suitable environment in which to raise the dog.
The Puppy Development Programme provides the main source of potential guide dogs. The dogs on the programme are selected from the best available stock in the country, and the goal is to ensure a continuous supply of well-prepared dogs for training as guides. In order to become a confident, calm and friendly dog, a pup should be brought up in an atmosphere of love and human companionship. The role of the puppywalkers is critical to the outcome of the pups' development. When compared to kennel raised pups, home reared pups that are accustomed to town and home life and the human voice, will display a higher degree of initiative when being trained as a guide (pfaffenberger et al., 1976). It is understood that although a dog can fonn emotional attachments to humans at any age, it is more likely to fonn a strong affinity if exposed to people during the traditional 'socialisation period' of around 3 to 12 weeks of age. Certain events and experiences that occur during the 'critical ' (or sensitive) early developmental stages of a dog's life can have long-tenn deleterious effects on the behaviour of domestic dogs, as pups are more sensitive and impressionable at this age, and are vulnerable to psychological injury (Scott & Fuller, 1 965).
A group of staff at the RNZFB' s GDS provides ongoing support for the puppywalkers with monthly visits and the opportunities to meet other puppy walkers. The costs of caring for the puppy are covered by the RNZFB's GDS. The pup's attitudes towards adults, children and other pets, and its home and social behaviour are monitored as it develops. Puppy walkers are required to adhere to procedures, and write a monthly report of the dogs' health and behaviour. Each dog has its own, Veterinary Health Book and certain veterinary practices are recommended by the RNZFB ' s GDS to reduce the variation in care. At maturity, the pups are returned to the guide dog centre in Auckland to be assessed for their potential as guides. At this time, the dogs undergo eye examinations, and are radiographed for skeletal abnonnalities such as elbow osteochondritis and hip dysplasia that could reduce their effectiveness as a working dog.
3.4.4 Assessing and training the guide dog
Currently, the RNZFB's GDS trains 80 to 90 guide dogs each year, mainly at the guide dog centre. Before training begins, young dogs are assessed for suitability on many temperamental, behavioural and physical characteristics based on Liakhoff' s (as cited in Murphy, 1998) classifications of aggressions, fear-related behaviours and sensitivities. Knol, Roozendaal, van den Bogaard, and Bouw ( 1 988) described the ideal guide dog as being in excellent health, of appropriate size, build and coat structure, suitably skilled in the art of guiding, properly behaved (well socialised to adults. children and other animals) and obedient (easily controlled). A dog must also be able to concentrate. adapt to different environments and situations. and be responsive to the training techniques used. Recurring health or behaviour problems may make the duration and cost of training too high, hence the dog should be free of any conditions that affect its ability to cope with the demands of training and work. The dog must also be cosmetically attractive to avoid criticism from the public. and the potential handler. A copy of the current canine temperamental. behavioural and physical analysis regime used by the RNZFB 's GDS can be found in Appendix B.
Heritability studies
Early work by M. E. Goddard and Beilharz ( 1 983) identified genetic traits that caused dogs to be considered unsuitable for training as guides. including fearfulness. distractionS (especially to other dogs) and aggressiveness. Although these researchers found that awarding a temperamental score early in a dog' s training had little ability to predict the dog's performance at the end of training, the scores correlated with the overall reliability of working dogs. They also determined that female dogs were more fearful and more distracted by scent. but less aggressive and distracted by other dogs. than were male dogs. As significant genetic variation for fearfulness and potentially for dog distraction was found, they suggested that future selection on these criteria would improve the standard. M. E. Goddard and Beilharz ( 1 983) also reported that purpose bred guide dogs were superior to those privately bred. Selective breeding has increased the odds that particular breeds will be predisposed to certain behaviours, for example. German shepherd dogs to police work, and Labrador retrievers to guiding (Wilsson &
5 A distraction becomes problematic when a dog pays attention to something not related to guiding that leads to reduced efficiency such as loss of obstacle protection or failure to stop at a kerb (Gosling & Holdsworth, 1 998).
3 -Background: Guide Dogs in Society Sundgren, 1997). However, efforts to establish profiles of particular breeds have usually failed, and as Wilsson and Sundgren point out, the Gennan shepherd dogs used in their study originated from a purpose-bred, closed breeding colony and the comparison may have turned out differently if only privately bred dogs had been used. The RNZFB ' s GDS immediately withdraws any dog exhibiting nervousness, a high degree of anxiety, suspicion, sound shyness and idiopathic or pure aggression (a condition where the cause of the aggression is unknown) from the training programme.
Heritability studies are important as they offer guidelines to the consequences of selection procedures. However, other factors that shape a dog's personality include the health of the dam during pregnancy, conditions at birth, dam's temperament, and the pup's environment including diet, health, socialisation, medications and honnones (Overall, 2003). With regards to behavioural sexual dimorphism, dogs that are castrated before the age of one year, usually cooperate as well with their trainers as do bitches, suggesting that noncooperative behaviours are honnonally regulated in the male dog (Wilsson & Sundgren, 1 997). All RNZFB's GDS' dogs are nonnally neutered prior to being matched unless the decision has been made to retain the dog as breeding stock.
Although service dog organisations may benefit from being able to evaluate canine temperamental traits from an early age, temperamental tests designed to predict what kind of a dog a puppy will grow into have proven to be unreliable as validity is gained only when the dog has reached social maturity at 1 8 months to two years of age. However, Serpell and Hsu (2001) developed a method for evaluating behaviour and temperament in one-year old guide dogs by interviewing the puppy walkers and validating the results against the guide dog school's own criteria for rejecting dogs on behavioural grounds. Serpell and Hsu identified eight general behavioural traits, which accounted for around 63% of the variation between dogs and were stable across breeds and sexes. These were (a-d) fear/aggression (to handler, stranger, dog and non-social), (e) energy level, (f) chasing, (g) trainability and (h) attachment. Results indicted that the construct validity of the puppy walkers' assessments of their charges could provide a useful and accurate means of predicting the suitability of dogs for guiding work.
Another useful study that may be applied to the selection of service dogs was recently conducted by Svartberg and Forkman (2002). Using different terminology, they found
five personality traits common to all dogs: (a) playfulness, (b) curiosity/fearlessness, (c) chasing instinct (prey response), (d) aggressiveness and (e) sociability. With the exception of aggressiveness, the traits were combined to form the "shyness-boldness continuum" where bold dogs were considered highly trainable; a finding that was apparent among breeds, sexes and individual dogs within breeds.
The following segments describe the RNZFB 's GDS' method of assessing and training their dogs.
Assessment
A pre-training assessment called the '20 Walk Assessment' is begun if the pup's monthly health and behaviour reports while being 'puppywalked' are satisfactory. The dog is walked 20 times in a variety of environments by a certified guide dog trainer over a 2-3 week period including the city centre and rural areas at busy and quiet times, shopping malls and public transport. For the first five walks, the dog is on a long lead with minimal input from the trainer. This allows the dog's natural behaviour to be observed. During the next 1 5 walks, the trainer gradually introduces obedience control and encouragement where necessary. During this phase the dog is accustomed to wearing the harness in order for the dog to associate wearing it with work.
Many different characteristics are displayed during the 20 walks. For example, a dog that appears meek on a short lead can exhibit dominant traits when allowed a free rein. The trainer in conjunction with the overseeing guide dog training manager then makes a decision to accept or reject the dog for continued training. About 70% of the dogs entering the training programme graduate as qualified guide dogs.
Training
Suitable dogs undertake a programme of intensive guide dog training lasting 4 to 6 months that familiarises dogs with working environments and conditions from rural areas without pavements to busy inner-city streets. In particular circumstances, some dogs are specially trained to suit the specific needs of handlers who have been potentially matched to these dogs. For example, a dog may be trained to work on the right hand side for someone who does not have the use of his or her left hand; the side a dog is normally trained to work on. During both the assessment and training the dog's
3 -Background: Guide Dogs in Society progress is monitored and recorded by the trainer, under supervision. Before continuing with the RNZFB 's GDS' method of analysing their dogs behaviourally and physically, the following segment addresses the principles of how dogs are taught to guide.
How do dogs guide ?
Dogs learn to guide by association, that is, operant conditioning where there is a contingency between the response and the presentation of the reinforcer. To illustrate, once the dog has performed a required task, it is praised and/or petted, which increases the likelihood of it repeating the desirable behaviour (positive reinforcement). If the dog behaves inappropriately, it is punished by being verbally reprimanded and/or receiving a physical correction through the collar and lead.
Knol et al. ( 1 988) divided the dog' s skills into three categories of ability: (a) to perform tasks on command, (b) to perform tasks without a command and (c) to refuse tasks on command. Training is based on five basic principles (Harland, 1992): (a) habituation, (b) trial and error, (c) conditioning reflexes, (d) self-preservation and (e) willingness to please the handler. A typical guide dog will learn up to 50 commands. The dog is trained to respond to the command "forward" while working, but is required to stop at intersections, down-kerbs and down-stairs, indicate up-kerbs and up-stairs, and turn right and left at the handlers' instruction (Redwood, 1980). This progresses to phrases such as "find the steps" or "find the door", which can lead to "find the dairy" or other destinations (R. T. Edwards, 2002). However, this progression may be achievable only if the destinations were nearby, as dogs do not generally find locations by name.
The dog learns to guide its handler in as straight a line as possible, while deciding on a safe path of travel around obstacles. This 'straight-line concept' is the foundation of guiding work, and drifting to either side, turning a corner or crossing a road diagonally is discouraged unless the dog has been instructed by the handler to override its primary task. Correspondingly, when an obstacle is negotiated the dog is encouraged to return to the straight line as soon as it is safe to do so (Ireson, 199 1 ).
As mentioned previously, the guide dog is usually trained to walk on the left side of the handler. In order to avoid the handler' s right shoulder or head colliding with an object, the dog learns to expand its critical area (personal space) to include the width and height
of the handler. Although the dog is trained to follow instructions from the handler to reach a destination, there are situations where the dog uses its own initiative (which it has also been trained to do); this is illustrated by the following example.
How does a guide dog cross the road?
The responsibility of crossing a road rests with the handler, not the dog. Roads can be difficult to cross if traffic is excessive and flowing from several directions. If so, handlers are advised to drop the harness handle and seek help from a passer-by rather than take a risk. However, if the crossing is familiar and straightforward, the dog will stop at the down-kerb, the handler will listen and when he or she judges that it is safe to proceed, a "forward" command' is given. If the dog judges that no vehicles are approaching within the 'critical' distance that it has been trained to recognise as a signal to become stationary, it will lead its handler across the road. If the safety zone has been encroached, the dog uses its initiative and does not obey the command. Traffic work is becoming more challenging due to the increasing volume of traffic and the advent of the quieter car, which is harder for the handler to hear, and many guide dog schools are adapting their training to compensate for this (Fisher, 200 1 ).
Canine temperamental, behavioural and physical analysis
After every training session, a detailed behavioural and physical analysis record is completed for each dog (Appendix B). The behavioural traits are measured subjectively, and are quantified by being assigned a score on a sliding scale from 1 to 9. The mid point, 5, being the mean average level expected of a working guide dog. A score in the direction of 9 indicates that the dog exhibits more of that behaviour than the average dog; conversely, a score towards 1 means that the dog exhibits less. For instance, a dog with very good 'obstacle clearance' work may score a 7 or an 8 for that trait, while a dog with mediocre abilities in that area may score a 4. Another example is a dog that is not easily distracted by other dogs scoring a 2 or 3 for 'dog distraction'.
The goal of this system of assessment is to highlight any extremes in either direction of the midpoint. It is a useful tool for matching as it indicates significant changes in magnitude, rather than good or bad scores. What is determined as a good score for one type of guide dog handler may not be a good score for another depending on the handler' s individual needs.
3 -Background: Guide Dogs in Society Difficulties can arise when different trainers measure temperamental characteristics subjectively. Murphy ( 1998) found that discrepancies in scoring were due to anthropomorphism and misunderstanding a dog's behaviour, and that elements of behaviour were common to more than one behavioural category necessitating interpretation from several aspects. At the RNZFB ' s GDS, an experienced overseer evaluates scores for discrepancies, and inter-rater reliability is maximised by staff training in standardised evaluation methods.
The outcome of each dog' s behavioural and physical analysis is recorded numerically, along with a description of the dog's breeding, puppy history and pre-training assessment, on an electronic database. Towards the end of training, each dog is digitally videotaped performing a walk with its blindfolded trainer in several different environments and conditions, and the recording is downloaded into a short MPEG video file. The behavioural and physical histories for each dog are electronically distributed, via a spreadsheet with links to the digital images, to the New Zealand instructors lap top computers and to instructors from overseas schools that will be participating in the matching process. This allows the instructors to familiarise themselves with the dogs ready to be matched and initiates preliminary matching decisions. The variety of traits that are evaluated, as shown in Appendix B, are awarded a final score by the trainers on the following categories: trainability, reliability, role acceptance, handler transferability, temperamental suitability, health (longevity) and matchability.
Factors affecting training include the dog's learning ability, previous experience and health, and dogs that excel as guides might associate work with pleasure (L. Roe, Guide Dog Trainer, RNZFB ' s GDS, personal communication, December 1 999). Dogs that do not meet the standards may be withdrawn at any time during the assessment or training period. Those not qualifying may graduate as service dogs or become companion dogs for people with disabilities other than vision loss, graduate as service dogs with the police, customs or Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, or be offered back to donors. Otherwise, the dogs are adopted as pets by the families who puppy-walked them or to other approved homes. Once a dog graduates from training as a qualified guide dog, it is ready to be matched.