[nagdu] New guide dog school

[RJ Sandefur]

What are her views on blindness? Is she apposed to NFB ideas? RJ
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie J." <julielj at neb.rr.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, November 18, 2011 9:32 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] New guide dog school


>I spoke with the founder of Gallant Hearts on the phone several years ago. 
>she is very knowledgeable about dogs.   She has been breeding Dobermans for 
>a long while.  she has been working guide dogs since the 60's.
>
> Honestly I'm excited to see what happens with Gallant Hearts.  the main 
> interest for me is that they will have Dobermans and Boxers as two of 
> their main breeds.  That alone wins them many points in my book!  They are 
> also offering home training as a standard not an exception.
>
> they are still a ways away from actually placing dogs.  I think they have 
> just started puppies into puppy raiser homes within the last few months. 
> They are currently looking for a trainer. It will be many years before 
> they are well established.  I am comforted that they are very open about 
> what they are doing.  Every program had to start somewhere.  In the past 
> few years I'm thinking there have been 2 or 3 guide dog programs close 
> their doors.  It doesn't surprise me too much that a new one is just 
> starting up.
>
> I'm not sure what to think about the co-ownership thing.  I know that it 
> is fairly common among show dogs, but I honestly have no idea how it will 
> work with a guide dog.
>
> The founder is also very opposed to treat training.  I happen to be a big 
> fan of clicker.  I wish they were more open to operant conditioning 
> training methods.   So for me that is a negative.
>
> She plans on using half check collars on all the dogs.  I like this.  It's 
> what I use on Monty.  The founder feels that dogs should not be issued 
> with prong collars or head collars because it shows that the dog needs 
> more training.   I'd tend to agree with this.  There are always 
> exceptions, but for the average guide dog handler I think it's reasonable 
> to expect that the dog be easily handled without a lot of mechanical 
> means.
>
> Anyway I'm watching to see how things progress.  As of right now I would 
> consider this school as an option for my next dog, if I decide not to 
> owner train again.
>
> Julie
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/joltingjacksandefur%40gmail.com