A Guide Dog

　　A guide dog is a dog especially trained to guide a blind person. Dogs chosen for such training must show good disposition, intelligence, physical fitness and sense of responsibility.

　　At the age of fourteen months, a guide dog begins an intensive course that lasts three to five months. It becomes accustomed to the leather harness and stiff leather handle it will wear when guiding its blind owner. The dog learns to watch the traffic and to cross the street safely. It also learns to obey such commands as "forward", "left", "right" and "sit" and to disobey any command that might lead its owner into danger.

　　The most important part of the training course is a fourweek program in which the dog and its future owner learn to work together. However, many blind people are unsuited by personality to work with dogs. Only a tenth of the blind find a guide dog useful.

　　[參考譯文]

　　導盲犬

　　導盲犬是專門為盲人做向導的狗。選來接受這種訓練的狗必須有很好的脾氣、智力、體格和責任心。

　　在14個月大的時候，導盲犬就開始接受精良的訓練課程，為期3到5個月。它要逐漸習慣于將來導引盲主人時所戴的皮革脖套具和僵硬的皮韁繩