[nagdu] Owner Training questions

[Julie J]

Danielle,

Here you go!
> 1: Do you get an outsider trainer to help you with the training 
> techniques?
No, not really.  Way back in high school when I was training dogs in 
obedience, flyball and agility I worked with other trainers.  I have never 
worked with any other trainers on guide tasks though.

> 2: Is your dogs trained for traffic checks?
Yes, start with smaller moving objects like skateboards, bikes or shopping 
carts.  When the dog shows absolute understanding then I move on to actual 
cars.  I've had my husband be the practice driver.  We go over in detail how 
it's going to work beforehand so there are no surprises and it is safe. 
Usually there are also opportunities to practice natural traffic checks 
along the way.

> 3: At what age do you put your dog in harness for the first time?
When they're ready.  I think Belle was 12 months old and Monty was probably 
more like 10 months old, although at the time I thought he was closer to a 
year.  I don't train in the same way that the programs do though.  It isn't 
as compartmentalized.  I might work on forward in harness, then a bit on 
obedience in harness in a high distraction environment and end with exposure 
to something entirely new.  So even though I put the harness on earlier I 
don't finish the training any earlier than a typical program.

> 4 :How long did it take to make your dog successful at guide work?
It took me a year to train Belle and 15 months to train Monty.  However this 
time includes basic obedience, socialization, guide training and any other 
training they needed.  They were both older puppies when I got them, around 
9 months or so.

> 5: If your dog that you put into harness didn't want to work after all the 
> training did you keep them as a pet? Find another career for them?
Belle didn't want to be a guide for very long, 2 years or so.  It stresses 
her out too much.  she still lives here.

> 6: Do you expose your puppy in training to things like flying or trains at 
> a young age? Is that allowed in your home town?
LOL I live in a tiny town,the airport is a dirt strip that only crop dusters 
use.  The only trains are the sort that haul grain and the like.  I did 
expose both dogs to riding in a semi truck, being around tractors and heavy 
machinery, walking near trains and anything else I could think of.

> 7: If you have an owner trained dog did you ever have experience w/ a dog 
> from a school? If you did is there any differences in how your dog does 
> with traveling?
I've never had a guide from a program.

> I'm a very frequent flier / traveler so I'm curous if I were to owner 
> train how to make sure tehy are comfortabel going all over!
Check your state laws about service dogs in training.  Many states extend 
access to public places for the purposes of training.  As far as air travel 
with a dog in training you'd have to fly on an airline that allows pets or 
has special provisions for service dogs in training.  My experience has been 
that if a dog is comfortable in cars, busses and anything else that you can 
possibly expose them to, the concept will generalize.  You shouldn't have 
any problems.  If you think about it there is no way for the puppy raisers 
to expose every puppy to every possible situation that might come up in the 
blind handlers lifetime.  the point is to expose them to enough that they 
become comfortable in the human world, no matter what the particulars of the 
day are.

HTH
Julie