[nagdu] Puppyraising for owner training

Fri May 7 20:18:30 UTC 2010

Because sighted people think we can't do stuff  - they forget we get 
training to do stuff.  Blind people think we can't do stuff because we learn 
from infanthood that we can't do it because we're blind. A nasty vicious 
circle!

I have to say that I once thought it wasn't possible for a blind person to 
teach mobility or train a guide dog until I SAW it for myself. We really 
need more stories out there in public that tells how we do these things.  I 
foought about owner training of guide dogs for YEARS before I joined NAGDU 
and met folks who were actually doing it. I favored it as long as the person 
did a good job at it - which I saw a couple of times over the years back 
east.

We sure have alot of negative crap to unload out of our minds - myself 
included.  I think it is going in the right direction but we need to remain 
dilegent and watchful for ourselves and our rights.

Lyn and Landon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC)" <REBECCA.PICKRELL at tasc.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 10:54 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Puppyraising for owner training

> This is one of the most interesting threads I've read in a long time.
> Why are people both blind and sighted so into thinkinga blind person
> can't train a dog? Very curious.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of The Pawpower Pack
> Sent: Monday, May 03, 2010 6:22 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Puppyraising for owner training
>
> All of my owner trained guides have been from rescue or high-kill
> facilities.  Laveau-- my current Doberman mix guide is from the very
> scary New Orleans inner-city high kill shelter and it was *not* my
> intent to get a dog from there.  I really wanted to go through a
> breeder, but Laveau has turned out to be one of the most unexpected
> gifts I've ever received.
> I did adopt her with the realization that she may not work out as a
> guide because regardless of her flawless temperament tests, she had
> been in a horrible inner city shelter for five weeks with minimal
> outside contact.  Temperament tests done under these conditions are
> hardly reliable and a dog that looks like a fantastic candidate in the
> shelter can review a totally different side of itself once it lives in
> the home and gets over shelter shock.  However I knew I could find her
> a home if she didn't make it and she was such a wonderful dog that I
> had to take the chance.  When I took her in for her physical, half the
> staff at my vets office were praying for her to flunk the exam because
> they wanted her.  Lucky for me, unfortunately for them, she is healthy
> as a horse aside from a few small issues which are not a problem if
> she gets her medication on a regular schedule.
>
> She was around a year old when I got her.  My other dogs were between
> 10 months to a year when I got them as well.  I love this age to begin
> training.
> However I must confess that I do harbor a secret fantasy of raising my
> own puppy.  Not now, not maybe even my next dog.  However if I can
> plan Laveau's or next dog's retirement early enough, and if I'm lucky
> enough to be working from home by that point, and if I can find the
> right kind of golden retriever breeder, I'd love to raise my own
> puppy.  I know it would be a great deal of work and my husband is
> trying to talk me out of it-- he has been for several years now.
> However one of these days I'd love to have that opportunity.  Until
> the time is right however, I'd like to stick with dogs between the
> ages of 10-18 months.  I'd like my next dog to be another Doberman
> because Laveau has caused me to fall madly in love with the breed.
> I'd also take a golden retriever because they are tied with Dobe for
> my favorite breed or a Dalmatian because I really, really want one and
> think they'd fit in great with my lifestyle.  I almost got a Dal bitch
> from a breeder this time around but she flunked her temperament test
> so here I am with the Doberdog.
>
> Tami is right about how exhausting owner training is.  I kept a
> journal even before I got laveau of things that I needed to work on,
> and once I got her I was either writing in my journal, reading other's
> journals, training the dog, reviewing training sessions with other
> owner trainers, thinking about future training sessions, planning out
> future training sessions with other owner trainers, and the list just
> goes on from there.
> You have to like dogs a lot! to be an owner trainer.  You have to be
> interested in all of the tiniest minutiae of behavior and training to
> be an owner trainer.  You need to have good orientation and mobility
> skills.  You also need to know your rights and responsibilities under
> the law/s and be a strong advocate for yourself because nobody else is
> going to be advocating for you.  A thick skin is also helpful because
> you are going to have to deal with ignorance from the sighted
> community, the blind community, professionals who work in the
> blindness field and other PWD.  All of these people probably mean well
> but many of them don't think a blind person is capable of training an
> assistance dog.  Your actions need to speak louder than your words.
> People will watch you, they will watch your dog and they will make
> judgements.
>
> I was the first owner trainer to work where I do and there were
> several program trained teams who entered our facilities every day and
> I had to consistently prove, time and time again that my dog was just
> as well trained as theirs.  That I was just as good a handler as they
> were even if I do things differently because I use strictly clicker
> training and most guide dog handlers don't.
> People will ask you questions about yourself, your choice to owner
> train, about your dog, how you trained it, where you got the harness
> and the list goes on and on.  If you think people invaded your privacy
> and asked you probing questions with a program trained dog, well it is
> my personal experience that I get even more questions now.
>
> Jessica, I'm not trying to discourage you from owner training.  It is
> your right to have an individually trained assistance dog; however it
> is important to know what path lies ahead of you.
>
> I wish you the best, and I don't want to make it sound all gloom and
> doom and tedious toil.  I love my dog, and I love owner training.  I
> will probably owner train again in another million years when Laveau
> gets old.
>
>
> 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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