[nagdu] owner training

[Julie J]

Jessica,

Every person that owner trains goes about it a bit differently.  That is the 
beauty of it.  You get to do what works for you and your dog.

I use clicker training to introduce new concepts and to reinforce them.  I 
will use corrections once a behavior is solidly established.  It has worked 
well for me, but your mileage may vary.

It is an incredible amount of work and will take up most of your time.  I 
got both Monty and Belle around 9 months old.  Belle took a year to train 
and Monty 15 months.  This included all basic commands-sit, down, etc, 
socialization and advanced guide work commands.   If you start with an older 
dog with basic training you can shorten the time dramatically.

I got Belle and Monty from rescue organizations.  That wasn't a decision I 
had made it just worked out that way.  I was open to the right dog, wherever 
he/she came from.  I investigated breeders, breed rescue, small shelters, 
large shelters, ads from the paper and word of mouth networking.  I looked 
at a lot of dogs before settling on Monty.

I do my own version of a temperament test based on reading about two dozen 
versions of temperament tests on the internet.   I'm looking for a dog that 
recovers quickly from being startled, who is generally interested in people, 
who doesn't mind being intrusively handled, who gets along well with other 
dogs, who shows curiosity to new things and has the physical characteristics 
I want.

Finding a really awesome dog is the hardest part or at least I think so. 
You are putting a lot of time and energy into this dog and you want it to 
work out.  I found myself second and third  guessing my decisions when I was 
looking for a dog to train.  I passed on quite a few maybes.  It was hard to 
know if I was making the right decision.  And you won't know if it was the 
right decision until much later.  If it doesn't work out having a back up 
plan is essential.   I keep my dogs as pets if it doesn't work out, but I 
own my own home so that's possible for me.  However I can't just collect 
dogs until I find one that works! *smile*   If Monty hadn't worked out as a 
guide dog, I would have no guide dog because that would mean a third dog in 
the house, which  doesn't work for my family.

HTH
Julie