Ding Zhiqiang, a young man from Jiangsu, is visually impaired.
Seven years ago, Zhuangzhuang, a guide dog, came to his side and became the first guide dog in service in Jiangsu.
Zhuangzhuang is 10 years old this year, which is equivalent to 60 years old in human years, and he has reached retirement age.
After seven years of living and working together, Ding Zhiqiang and Zhuangzhuang have developed a tacit understanding. They understand each other even in the smallest of touches.
Zhuangzhuang skillfully shuttles between the shop and home every day with Ding Zhiqiang.
When Ding Zhiqiang was working, it would quietly stay by his side.
Zhuangzhuang, without the guide harness, is a quiet, thoughtful, and proud dog.
But good times are always fleeting.
Although it was very hard to part with him, Zhuangzhuang was already getting old, and when the weather was too hot or the journey was too long, he clearly couldn't keep up.
So, it's time to rest.
Zhuangzhuang may retire next year, which will be another painful farewell.
The lives of guide dogs are very similar, and they will probably experience three separations.
At two months old, the guide dogs need to be placed in foster homes.
Here, they need to learn how to interact with humans and some basic rules, such as not eating human food, not jumping on furniture, and getting used to various public places and means of transportation.
At the age of one, they need to be separated from their foster families and sent to a guide dog training center to be trained by professional guide dog trainers.
After a year of rigorous training and finding a suitable owner, they will enter blind families and begin their long working careers.
When they reach retirement age of eight to twelve, they will leave the blind families with whom they have the deepest affection and enter new families to live out their twilight years.
Many people wonder why they can't stay with blind families indefinitely.
Because guide dogs are always in working condition in blind families.
Once it wears a guide harness, it will concentrate fully on its work, completely hiding its canine nature.
Whether it is harassed, tempted, or even in danger, it will always put its owner's safety first and stay by its owner's side at all times.
Therefore, if it remains with a blind family, it may never have the chance to be a simple pet dog.
Secondly, if a blind family applies for a new guide dog in the future, seeing the new dog take its place may cause the blind dog to become depressed.
Therefore, retired guide dogs are first considered for adoption by foster families where they lived as children. If foster families cannot adopt them, then adoption by members of the public will be considered.
Ding Zhiqiang also said, "With the promotion of media and film and television works, people's understanding of guide dogs has deepened a lot in recent years."
However, Ding Zhiqiang still does thorough research before each long trip.
Because many people still have prejudices against guide dogs, some places do not allow guide dogs to enter.
In April of this year, a guide dog that was scolded to tears also made headlines...
The driver kicked the guide dog off the bus, citing the rule that "pets are not allowed on buses." Although the dog couldn't understand language, the malice and disgust shown by the passengers deeply hurt it.
Since May 2015, public transportation, including buses, subways, and trains, has long allowed blind people to ride with guide dogs.
According to statistics from 2019, there are fewer than 200 guide dogs in China, all of whom are "rare treasures" that have undergone rigorous training and selection.
So, if you are lucky enough to encounter a guide dog at work, remember the four "don'ts" and one "ask" principle.
Four Don'ts: Don't feed, don't pet, don't call out to, and don't refuse.
Q1: If you encounter a visually impaired person with a guide dog, whether or not they are accompanied by someone else, please proactively ask if they need help and provide assistance only after obtaining their consent.
