[nagdu] was Matching, now Owner Training

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

I didn't take it that way.  No worries!

There is something to be said for letting the experts do all the groundwork.
By the time they do match you with your dog, they know the dog inside and
out.  Also, the dog has passed through the majority of the challenges and
tests that might wash another dog out.  That, to me, was the hardest part
when I really started the guide part of Mitzi's training.  How will I know
when it's time to give it up instead of finding a better training solution
for whatever thingy we were working on?  What was a temperament or character
issue, and what was lack of maturity?  That sort of thing.  Teams of experts
taking of all that seemed like a good idea.  /smile/  Not that I wouldn't
owner-train again!

At the same time, having teams of experts do all the raising and training
and then just matching me up with the dog they believe will best suit my
needs just sort of gives me the willies deep down inside.  If I do decide to
go through a program next time, I will gladly work with them so that they
can give me the best match possible using their experience and knowledge and
tried and true methods!  But my inner 5-year-old wants to pick her puppy her
ownself.  /grin/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jewel S.
Sent: Friday, April 23, 2010 6:37 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] was Matching, now Owner Training

I understand that owner-trainers don't pick a dog at random. From
reading about a few people on here who owner-trained, it is much more
complicated than getting a dog from a guide school. But what I was
trying to say was that if I wanted to do the work of choosing my own
dog, wouldn't I just owner-train? By going to a guide school, I am
allowing them to pick the appropriate dog for me, instead of doing all
the hard work myself. For some people, this is the best way to go. For
others, picking their own dog is important, for one reason or another,
like having very particular needs or having very few requirements
other than wanting a rescued pup. I wasn't trying to say that
owner-trained dogs are picked at random. I apologize if it sounded
like that. I was just trying to say that I don't want to have to deal
with all that hard work of finding the perfect dog myself; I don't
think I'd be very good at assessing a dog's potential. So, I turn to a
guide dog school, where they have trained people who do the
assessment, and take that responsibility off of me.

~Jewel

On 4/23/10, The Pawpower Pack <pawpower4me at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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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