One-Day Training to Shibuya

2022. 4. 26

News

Shibuya is one of the busiest areas in Tokyo, with a terminal station (Shibuya station) used by more than 2 million people a day. It is a center of youth fashion and culture with many shopping areas, department stores, entertainment venues, restaurants and nightclubs. Students at the School for Guide Dog Trainers went on a one-day training from JGDA Kanagawa Training Center to the Tokyo Office located in Shibuya.

More than a month before the day to Shibuya, students started to prepare for the one-day training they had never done before. The mission was to head to the Tokyo Office on their own by train, buying lunch on the way with their dogs. The students trained their dogs on how to get on a train and stay safe on platforms. Waiting practice was necessary because the dogs would have to wait in trains and after arriving at the Tokyo Office.

Three students are waiting at a curb, each with a yellow labrador in a harness.

<Students waiting at a traffic light in Shibuya>

On the day to Shibuya, the students seemed nervous, but their dogs took the train smoothly as they had practiced. Around noon, each student arrived at the Tokyo Office. They all seemed relieved since it was the first time going there. The dogs seemed tired too, going to a new place with many people on the streets.

Two students are crossing a road full of people, each with a yellow labrador in a harness.

<Students at the Shibuya crossing>

After a lunch break, the students headed back to the Kanagawa Training Center. On their way to Shibuya station, they crossed the Shibuya Crossing, a scramble crossing famous as “the busiest pedestrian intersection in the world”, with as many as 3000 people crossing the street at a time. The dogs carefully crossed the road as training for dynamic obstacles.

“We usually only go to shorter walks in town for training, so it was a great experience to train my dog while imagining how our clients would use them when they become guide dogs. I think my dog did very well as we prepared for this day. I realized we still needed to work on dynamic obstacles because my dog was confused with many people on the streets. My dog and I learned a lot from this one-day training challenge,” says one student after her long day.