VOA健康报道2022--被训练来引导盲人的小狗

Puppies Trained to Guide the Blind

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

For many blind people and those with vision difficulties, life can be made easier with a guide dog. But making a good guide dog takes much work. And for many, the long road begins when the dog is a puppy.

Take for example, the five 8-week old puppies that arrived at the Tipton Airport in Fort Meade, Maryland early in February. At that time, they were loving, playful animals – like all puppies. Now however, the Labrador retriever and German shepherd puppies are on the road to becoming useful members of society.

If they prove themselves able, they could become guide dogs. They will help to improve the lives of people with vision loss and vision impairment.

The faithful-friends-to-be are part of a training program of an organization called Guiding Eyes for the Blind. The puppies flew from the organization's head office in Yorktown Heights, New York, to Maryland onboard a "Pilots To The Rescue" flight.

Pilots to the Rescue is a not-for-profit organization that transports "...animals as well as people at risk," it states on its website.

The puppies were born in Yorktown Heights. And they spent the first two months of their lives with their moms and siblings². The young dogs were bred for health and temperament³. (Here, "temperament" means how they respond to their environment.)

However, breeding alone will not be enough to turn these puppies into guide dogs. They will need training from dog training experts.

They also will need to be nurtured⁵ by volunteers called Puppy Raisers. The goal of this nurturing⁶ by Puppy Raisers and their families is to turn the energetic, playful puppies into well-behaved and well-socialized dogs.

These are the qualities needed for a successful guide dog: well-bred, well-trained, well-behaved, and well-socialized.

The process will take about 14 to 16 months of weekly classes and testing. Training starts with the basics: name recognition, behavior, and commands such as "sit" and "down." The trainers then move on to more complex commands. After that, the puppies are given to the Puppy Raisers. The raisers and their families will show the puppies the world and how to act in it.

A manager for Guiding Eyes for the Blind's Puppy Program is Cindy Tait. She told the Associated Press that other experts will keep a watchful⁷ eye on the training and help with any problems the raisers may have along the way.

Once a solid, loving foundation is in place, puppies must leave their raisers and return to the Guiding Eyes training center for official guide dog training. Formal training is where the dogs demonstrate whether they will become a guide dog for the blind, a different kind of service dog, or someone's pet.

This means there is almost always a tearful goodbye.

Denali is one of four bigger puppies. He was placed aboard a return flight to Guiding Eyes the day the new puppies arrived. Tait got tears in her eyes as she watched Puppy Raiser Carolyn Schaefer say goodbye to the yellow Labrador and walk him to the plane.

"This is the hard part," Tait said. But she said a guide dog has the power to help people. And that softens⁸ the blow, an expression that means "makes a hard thing easier."

Even though it can be very hard to leave the puppies, puppy raisers come back over and over. Tait herself has raised many. She lists them all: Roxanne, Katrina, Velour, Gus, Mystic, Oregon, Kelby, Tad, Eagle, Winnie, and now Kenji, her 11th future guide dog puppy.

Words in This Story

vision – n. the act or power of seeing

impairment – n. diminishment or loss of function or ability

sibling¹ – n. one of two or more individuals having one common parent

breed – v. to produce or increase (animals or plants) by sexual reproduction

temperament – n. a person's attitude as it affects what he or she says or does

nurture⁴ – v. to further the development of

basic – adj. of, relating to, or forming the base or essence

foundation – n. the act of beginning or creating

demonstrate – v. to prove or make clear by reasoning or evidence

1 sibling   

n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹)

参考例句：

• Many of us hate living in the shadows of a more successful sibling.我们很多人都讨厌活在更为成功的手足的阴影下。
• Sibling ravalry has been common in this family.这个家里，兄弟姊妹之间的矛盾很平常。

2 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

3 temperament   

n.气质，性格，性情

参考例句：

• The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
• Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。

4 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

5 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。

6 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

7 watchful   

adj.注意的，警惕的

参考例句：

• The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
• It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。

8 softens   

（使）变软( soften的第三人称单数 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• Iron softens with heat. 铁受热就软化。
• Moonlight softens our faults; all shabbiness dissolves into shadow. 月光淡化了我们的各种缺点，所有的卑微都化解为依稀朦胧的阴影。 来自名作英译部分