[nagdu] owner training

Tue Apr 6 18:59:32 UTC 2010

Michelle,

Excellent!  In fact, you stated the reasons for choosing a program trained
guide dog over owner-training very well.

Including the bit where you have an instructor to teach you how to use the
dog.  For me, at least, training the dog wasn't the really hard part.  It
was training me!  Good grief!  I'm still trying to get the full working,
active lifestyle for which I trained Mitzi, so keeping up our more advanced
skills gets a bit hit and miss, especially during the winter or when the
budget is too tight for regular going out for entertainment and fun for us
humans.

So we arrange "review" trips every few months when we can, to work on those
skills.  She does great, really, all things considered.  It's the effing
handler who needs to have someone following along to retrain her!  /lol/
We're not that horrible a team, really, and we both remember how to, say, go
through Pier 1 without breaking merchandise we can't afford.  We're not
nearly as slick as I planned for us to be by now though, and I can never
escape noticing that the human is more of the "problem" than the dog.
Still, we soldier on, and she is patient with me.  /smile/

Anyway, that was very well said.  Owner-training is a perfectly valid
choice, which guide dog schools and O&M instructors would rather not agree
to, although I have met some professional guide dog trainers who have given
me great observation and advice and options for dealing with this or that.
Wonderful!

Still, just because it is possible and thus is an option, it is not for
everyone.  Okay, so I'm crazy enough to really, really want to do it again
even though I really would rather not need to since mitzi is not allowed to
get old or anything like that.  /smile/  Still I love it enough to want to
make that choice even now that I actually know what I would be getting
myself into.

And, if the conditions aren't right, I will go through a program in a
heartbeat.  If I decide I can't do it because of some factor or another,
then I won't do it.  I'll whine about it, naturally, while being very, very
grateful that I have the option of getting a guide dog and good instruction
to make me a better handler from the professionals.  /smile/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Michelle
Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2010 2:56 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] owner training

I find it amazing that people can train their own guide dogs. I've never 
been taught about that, ever, except for when I've read stuff on this list. 
I never thought people could train their own dogs for service work. It all 
fascinates me.

On that note the reason I wouldn't even try to train my own dog to become a 
guide dog is (1) because I have no vision and (2) I think there would be too

much commitment and way too much hard work for me. I like the idea or 
organisation-trained guide dogs because I can work with that particular 
training program which has already been put in place from when the dog was a

pup. So all it takes is for me to use the same program to teach him new 
stuff, like finding a new location and so on. It makes it a lot easier for 
me, and at least I have an instructor to help me keep on track! (smile)

But for those that have owner-trained dogs, good luck with them. I hope they

don't wear you down too much! Peace out.

Michelle
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "The Pawpower Pack" <pawpower4me at gmail.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2010 12:51 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] owner training

> Jessica,
>
> I agree with Julie in that the selection process is the hardest part
> of owner training.  Not only do you have to look at many dogs, but
> once you find a suitable pup you need to spend money on tests in order
> to make sure the dog is physically sound.  For me this involved a trip
> to the regular vet for him to check things like heart and lung
> function, joint health, etc.  Then I take my dogs to a canine
> ophthalmologist and he checks to make sure the dog's eyes are healthy
> and that the dog can see.
>
> Once you've gone through the selection process alone, you've already
> laid out a pretty significant amount of time and money.  Keeping in
> mind that this dog could wash out at any time and that you have more
> hard work ahead.
>
> My current dog, Laveau, is a female Doberman mix.  I got her when she
> was around one year old.  I had every intension of obtaining my next
> dog from a breeder and had already talked to many.  On the day I met
> Laveau, I went to the shelter more to satisfy a friend than anything.
> Again, I looked at lots and lots of dogs.
>
> Laveau is very unusual because she had already been trained in
> foundation behaviors-- sit, down, stay, loose leash walking.  She had
> been at the shelter for five weeks and was about to be euthanized.  I
> did a great many tests with her and even then I was uncertain.  Not
> because she did anything "wrong" my uncertainty stemmed from me
> worrying that she'd not like guide work or otherwise not want to do
> the work.  I got her in mid June of 2008 and we finished proofing the
> last of her traffic skills in February of 2009.  So that was about
> eight months.  Keep in mind we were a bit ahead of the game because
> she already had her basic obedience.
>
> Between the months of June and February I had no life.  I spent money
> on nothing but the dog.  Equipment, more vet check ups, obedience
> classes to socialize her with other dogs, on transportation to expose
> her to buses, streetcars and the like.  I also spent all of my free
> time working out training plans, reading about others training plans,
> documenting our experiences in training and actually training her.  At
> first she didn't go anywhere with me and we spent time working within
> six or eight blocks of our home.  Then she started accompanying me
> into places where pets were allowed.  Sidewalk cafes, pet shops,
> hardware stores, strip malls, etc.
> Every morning before I left for work, I walked Laveau and did training
> work with her.  I am lucky because my husband worked from home and
> stayed with her during the day.  After I got home from a long day of
> work, no sitting on my butt watching tv or surfing the web.  More
> walks, more training.  The weekends were our time to explore new
> places.  I went to sidewalk cafes and taught her how to lay quietly
> under tables.  I sat at bus stops and taught her how to position
> herself.  We spent time at the park learning to work around small
> children and dogs.  I had no life outside of this dog and dog training.
>
> Eventually she was able to come to work with me and started going
> places where pets aren't allowed.  We took and passed the CGC (Canine
> Good Citizen) test which doesn't have anything to do with guide or
> service dog skills but it says that the dog is socialized enough to be
> around dogs and people, and can carry out simple foundation behaviors.
>
> So here we are, almost two years later, and I don't regret a moment of
> it.  She's a fantastic dog and she does great work.  However owner
> training is a lot of work, and it took a great deal of dedication on
> both our parts.
>
> Good luck.
>
> Rox and the Kitchen Bitches
> Bristol (retired), Mill'E SD. and Laveau Guide Dog, CGC.
> "It's wildly irritating to have invented something as revolutionary as
> sarcasm, only to have it abused by amateurs." -- Christopher Moore
> pawpower4me at gmail.com
>
> Windows Live Only: Brisomania at hotmail.com
> AIM: Brissysgirl Yahoo: lillebriss
>
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