[nagdu] researching programs

[The Pawpower Pack]

Mark,

No one breed of dogs makes the best guide.  We're all different and  
have different needs.  My friend worked this big dopy lab for years.   
He was solid in his cues and very quiet.  I could not have worked him  
because I need a dog with more drive and problem solving skills.   
However this dog worked fine for my friend who lived in a tiny town  
and had a very routine life where she went the same places most of the  
time.  I live in New Orleans and last weekend I was in the French  
Quarter before the Super Bowl, it was chaos and my dog worked it like  
she'd been doing this her whole life.  This type of environment  
would've made my friend's dog shut down.

As for ownership, if you own the dog, the school can't just take the  
dog should they feel that the partnership isn't working out or should  
they feel there is abuse or neglect involved.  They can take the  
harness because all programs own their equipment, I believe.  If you  
own your dog, and if the program felt there was abuse or neglect going  
on, they would have to get the humane officer involved, just as would  
be the case for anyone else.
If the program owned the dog they could take the dog from you at any  
time, for any reason.  Programs usually don't go around taking dogs  
from people but there have been instances where the dog user and the  
program disagreed about and issue, and the program exerted their right  
to take the dog.

I went to a program which did not give ownership immediately when I  
got my first two dogs.  I felt like the program didn't trust me and I  
felt patronized.  I'm not saying this is what was going on, I'm just  
stating my feelings.  I owner train my dogs now, but in future, should  
I need a dog from a program, I'll pick one which gives ownership upon  
completion of training.  Others are just fine with the program owning  
their dog.

There seem to be three types of models where ownership is concerned.
1. the program grants ownership upon completion of training.  A  
program that does this is the Seeing Eye.
2. a program that makes you wait anywhere from 1-3 years before  
possibly granting ownership.  Leader Dogs does this, and so does Guide  
Dogs for the Blind and Guiding Eyes.
3. the program owns the dog the entire time you work the dog.  I  
believe Guide Dogs of Texas, Pilot and Guide Dogs of the Desert do it  
this way.


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

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