It's very usual in Shanghai to see people out walking their dogs. But it's not a common sight to see dogs out walking people. These "out walking people" dogs are special: they are guide dogs and their owners are blind.
Trained guide dogs in Europe and America have been used to help blind people for around 100 years, but it is a new thing in China. A guide dog training center was set up in Shanghai in 2007 and there were only about twenty working guide dogs in the city. There was a city law(法律) that pets and animals shouldn't walk in shops or hospitals. That's why many guide dogs and
their owners were not allowed when they went shopping or tried to take a bus. But guide dogs are not really pets. They are working dogs and their job is to help blind people walk.
Shanghai made a law in 2011: Guide dogs and their owners should be allowed to go to the shops or the hospitals. Blind people and their guide dogs are able to go into many shops now. But the law doesn't make a difference. Only by opening people's eyes and changing most people's attitudes(态度) can guide dogs and their owners go anywhere anybody else can go.
