Two days a week, the City’s public transport becomes the school where future assistance dogs are prepared to provide support, guidance and containment for minors and adults living with motor disabilities, autism or visual impairment.
The networks of Metro, Metrobús, concessioned transport, are crossed by the dogs that the Owen Foundation prepares, with the aim of adapting them to the hustle and bustle of the mobility systems, that they assimilate the noises and rhythms, and that they do not change when entering.
“Dogs begin to be trained from puppies within our facilities, with obedience and attention exercises. At around nine months they begin to go outside, especially on public transport, which teaches them a lot to learn to move and focus a lot. your attention,” explained Adalberto Islas, one of the trainers of the Foundation’s program, to REFORMA
During these tours, each of the dogs is fitted with a collar that allows them to be identified as service animals.
“Don’t touch me, human; I’m working”
“Vests are important for two things: they understand that they are working and not for a walkand because outsiders are asked not to touch them because they are distracted, and this can put the user’s life at risk,” explained Islas.
“An assistance dog doesn’t work all day, because that would exhaust him. After the vest is removed he is a normal dog receiving love and playing with other dogs. And it becomes a member of the user’s family.”
In installations such as those of the Metro, where the stairs are a common obstacle on the route, dogs learn to walk at a careful pace and according to that of his human, to become a safe guide. And, once they board the car, they have to accommodate themselves in such a way that they go almost unnoticed, they are located to the side of the person they are supporting or, even, under their seat so as not to restrict the mobility of both.
“An assistance dog often has to be invisible, its user must feel that they are a single team and work together, to be able to move safely throughout the City and in their transportation,” said the trainer.
Access to this type of assistance is limited, in 2022 the Owen Foundation trained 17 dogs.
Margara Bravo, director of the organization, explained that the preparation of this type of dog costs up to 25 thousand dollars, for the training they require, and which can last up to more than a year.
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“We get a lot of requests from children and young people looking for an assistant, but not all are suitable or can’t afford one, even though we absorb a lot of expenses as a foundation. Also, we can’t train a large number of dogs at the same time. Unfortunately, the panorama is complex,” he lamented.
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