Their numbers are increasing and people are more accustomed to them nowadays. For the visually impaired, guide dogs provide much-needed assistance and independence to their owners in daily life.

After completing training, it takes about two years for a dog to be up to the task. Once they start their duty, they almost serve as a pair of eyes for their owners.

Dogs can accompany the visually impaired in every environment, for safe and independent mobility, enabling them to attend to their daily needs. Owners credit them with improving their life quality. But it takes strenuous, three-stage training and proper matching with the owner for a guide dog to be assigned to the visually impaired. Each dog is certified after the training.

The Guide Dogs Association certifies the dogs, whose number is currently nine, as the nongovernmental organization hopes to increase this number. Guide dogs are picked among Golden and Labrador Retriever dogs, who are more qualified to serve as guide dogs. Each dog is assigned a volunteer family for about one year, under the supervision of trainers. During that period, they first learn socialization, toilet training and several commands. In the next stage, they become familiar with the leash, how to stop when faced with obstacles like high sidewalks, safely crossing the road, and detecting elevators, stairs and trash cans. In the final stage of training, they spend about 1 1/2 months with their visually impaired owners.

Burcu Bora, a guide dog trainer at the association that provides free guide dogs for the visually impaired, says they have provided canine companions for the past four years. Bora herself took courses for guide dog training in the United Kingdom and from foreign trainers in Türkiye. Indeed, she is the only qualified guide dog trainer in the country. Her current assignment is "Esmer," a 19-month-old Labrador.

Like their canine friends, owners also undergo a "qualification" process. "We test potential owners too and check if their lives can be adjusted to dogs or if the dogs can adapt to their lives, both physically and emotionally and both for them," Bora said. "Their pace, the sound of their voice, and the environment they lived in are important factors to determine it. We also must determine whether the owner is ready to take responsibility for the animals. They are like children, not robots. They should care about the dogs, they should be properly fed and people should ensure their wellbeing," she said. This is the only thing they ask from owners as the association covers animals’ food and health care expenses, thanks to sponsors. "We regularly check the well-being of dogs and we also assist the owners if they want new training," she said.

Each dog spends some eight or 10 years with their owners. "In addition to the assistance, they provide friendship to their owners," Bora said.

"If a dog and its owner are a perfect match (in the training stage), it is almost a miracle. This also gives us a chance to see how important relying on a dog is. They are loyal animals and they care about their owners. For instance, they can alert their owner even if they are distracted," Bora told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday.

Kemal Görey Beydağı, a 33-year-old musician is among the guide dog owners. Born blind, Beydağı says moving around easily is a real challenge, a "puzzle that needs to be solved, especially in chaotically designed cities and spaces." Beydağı heard about guide dogs when he was still a kid and was impressed. "I was attracted to the possibility that a dog would accompany you through this chaotic environment, protect you and give you comfort. I didn’t know that Türkiye hosted guide dogs too and learned about it while listening to a speech by the association’s founding president, Nurdeniz Tunçer. Then, I contacted the association and started my ownership process," he said.

It has been 13 months since he met a 3-year-old "Bulut" (Cloud) and found a "perfect match." "You have to have matching variables. For dogs, it is their behavior, physical features, and environments they feel comfortable in. For owners, it is their psychological profile, physical condition, environment and preference of means of transportation," he says.

He said he learned how to "communicate" with Bulut first. "We spent time together for three weeks in a facility (under the supervision of a trainer). He learned my movements and I learned how to move together with him, how to talk to him."

For Beydağı, who lives in Istanbul, Bulut allowed him to navigate the city easier. "Istanbul is a historic city, which has been home to many civilizations but the accessibility is very limited. For people with disabilities, traveling is not easy. But Bulut helped me to overcome it. He helps me avoid obstacles in badly designed places (for people with disabilities). He choses the safest path for me. He is ready for everything and can sense everything, from oncoming pedestrians to people pushing carts on the sidewalks and traffic. With him, I don’t need to depend on human guides," he says. Bulut has even memorized their usual route and the vehicles of mass transportation Beydağı uses. "He can take me home from anywhere," he said.

Beydağı has a problem, though: Other people trying to pet his cute canine companion. "You cannot expect him to react like other pets. I simply ask people to not pet him because this may distract him and in turn, this may endanger the safety of his owner."