[nagdu] was Matching, now Owner Training

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Rox,

Well, one person did ask me once how Mitzi went about training me. It was a
serious question.  I'm pretty sure that my response involved a stupefied
gape.  /grin/

I'm already feeling the pressure because with Mitzi about to turn 4, I only
have five or six years to find a replacement!  OMG!  What if I can't do it
in time?  Then I remember that Mitzi will live forever because I told her
to, and we all know how obedient she is.  /grin/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of The Pawpower Pack
Sent: Friday, April 23, 2010 4:20 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] was Matching, now Owner Training

Jewel,
Owner trainers don't just pick dogs at random.  the process is a great  
deal more involved and time consuming.  An owner trainer may look at a  
hundred dogs from breeders, shelters, and rescue organizations without  
finding a suitable dog.  If the owner trainer is lucky, they will have  
someone who knows their needs and who knows dogs assist them in  
temperament testing the dog.  Before said testing begins, time is  
spent making lists of possible breed choices, learning as much as  
possible about health problems and temperament issues of said breed/s.
We don't just randomly pick dogs because they come up to us and "pick  
us" or because we like them or think they're cute or because we have  
an instant bond.

The guide dog programs spend a great deal of time on matching and  
owner trainers spend probably just as much time, if not more, on the  
same.  We need to do it differently, but in order to minimize the  
potential of washing a dog out, most of us will spend more time during  
the matching process.
Finally, I have yet to meet a "self-trained dog."  By definition, a  
"Self-Trained Dog" would be one which had already trained itself.  I  
assure you that none of my owner trained dogs have been able to do that.
Goddess knows I'd love a self-trained dog.  On those rainy Sunday  
mornings it could take itself outside and work on traffic training or  
curb to curb turns while I lay in bed and drink coffee and eat Beignets.
People who train their own assistance dogs are typically called owner  
trainers and our dogs are owner trained-- being that they are being,  
or were trained, by the owner.




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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