[nagdu] Shepherds at GDB Re: dog drop-out rate

[Meghan Whalen]

I think when they made that announcement a couple years back, they had just 
bred their last litter of shepherds, so those dogs would have still been 
being raised about a year ago and should have been issued/career changed by 
now, I think.  Does that make sense?
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 1:34 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Shepherds at GDB Re: dog drop-out rate


> GDB made a big announcement a couple years ago that they were not putting
> out any more shepherds, and I think I remember them saying it was because
> not enough of them were making it through to be guides.
> But then last year I read there was a shepherd puppy being raised, so that
> was a bit confusing.
> Mixed information, yep!
> Tracy
>
>
>> What is actually going on with the shepherds at GDB?  I've heard mixed
>> information.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Nicole
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
>> To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 10:36 AM
>> Subject: [nagdu] dog drop-out rate
>>
>>
>>> When we were discussing owner-training and how hard it can be to find a
>>> suitable dog, I started wondering what the drop-out rate is at the
>>> schools.  I had heard, way back 30 years ago at GDB, that it was 50
>>> percent.  But I also think that part of the reason GDB dropped its
>>> shepherd lines was that not enough dogs were making the cut.  The
>>> investment was not paying off.  And I would think that, with scientific
>>> breeding that has gone on for several generations, plus considerable
>>> experience in training dogs, that the drop-out rate would be, well, a
>>> good
>>> bit less than 50 percent.
>>> But I just was looking at the GDB blog.  A couple years ago, they chose
>>> a
>>> lab litter and followed it through to adulthood, and they just had a
>>> wrap-up.  3 are guides; 2 are assistance dogs; and 2 are
>>> "career-changed".
>>> So, of 7 dogs, only 3 are guide dogs.  I was a bit surprised.
>>> Has anyone heard any recent statistics about dog drop-out rates among
>>> the
>>> big schools?  I'm quite curious.
>>>
>>> I'm not picking on GDB or anything; it's just the one I've heard the
>>> most
>>> about.
>>> Tracy
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
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>
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