[nagdu] should guides be given a second owner if it doesn't work out with the first owner?

[Sheila Leigland]

I don't have a reissued dog but a friend of mine had one and she was very happy with her. They definetely aren't robots and they are not all alike. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Buddy Brannan <buddy at brannan.name>
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 5:48 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,	the National Association of Guide Dog Users <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [nagdu] should guides be given a second owner if it doesn't	work out with the first owner?

Hi,

Yep, I'd say you're overreacting. In the 18 monthsto two years before you get your dog, s/he can pick up lots of habits. Some are good, others not so much. Bear in mind that your dog has been through a lot of transitions before you get him, regardless of whether there was another handler or not. Your dog may pick up behaviors in the kennel that its raisers never saw. He may pick up habits that were cute in puppyhood but not cute now. He may just start doing things that he didn't do anywhere else. And, if the dog is still deemed sound enough to do the work, why shouldn't it be given that opportunity? Dogs need jobs. It makes them happy. Pleasing us is what makes them go, and if a dog feels it has a purpose, it feels that its life is fulfilled. Not to mention that it ain't cheap to raise, train, and place these dogs, so if a dog can be reissued, why not?

I've seen many teams work out wonderfully where a dog has been a reissue. Dogs aren't robots, and they'll all have their things that they do that range from the mildly annoying to the drive you up a tree kind of things. These are, after all, living beings. You want perfection and predictable behavior? You probably want a cane. Dogs are thinking, feeling critters, and, while they do great things in their work, even surprising things, they will also sometimes do things that we don't like. It's all part of the package.
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY



On Apr 13, 2011, at 6:19 PM, Brittney N. Mejico wrote:

> Hello all,  
> My dog had another handler before me.  I don’t think that guides should be given another handlerbecause the dog picksup a lot of bad habits and they are  really hard to get rid of.  I love my  dog very muchand harvard has changed my life, but it took me a year to stop a lot of her bad habbits, and we still have some work to do.  What do you guys think? am I over reacting? <Owner.vcf>_______________________________________________
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