The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesAugust 8-24 2008
(BEIJING, Dec. 14) -- "That day, while I was walking with Lucky, he suddenly stopped and touched my leg with his head. I stretched out my leg and found that there were stairs in front of me. I was moved to tears." When talking about her guide dog Lucky, Ping Yali, China's first Paralympic champion who only has a vision of 0.05, couldn't hold back her excitement.
Lucky is a male golden retriever, weighting 40kg. On December 3, after training in Dalian, Lucky came to Beijing and entered Ping Yali's life. Now, Lucky is the only professional guide dog working in Beijing.
This day, Lucky's work was to accompany Ping to her workplace. Although it was his first time walking this road, he still performed professionally.
When crossing roads, Lucky always waited until all the vehicles stopped and most other pedestrians had started walking.
Arriving at their destination, Ping Yali took off Lucky's collar, and he immediately started to play. For him, a collar is like a sign for work. Take it off, and Lucky will relax like an ordinary dog.
The trainer Song Yanan told the journalist that guide dogs should wear a collar when going out. After the training six to eight months, they will get used to it and adjust to the working state. Out of every ten to twenty dogs, only one will become a guide dog.
As an Olympic torchbearer, Ping Yali hopes that she can take Lucky with her to participate in the torch relay and bring him to the Paralympics next year.
