[nagdu] Guide Dogs And VA Facilities--what?!

[Jenine Stanley]

I think the issue isn't whether owner-trained dogs in general are better or
worse behaved than program trained teams. I think the issue is that more
people are choosing to be accompanied by their dogs and correctly or not,
identifying the dogs as service animals without taking into account the
responsible training that needs to be the background of any working dog's
life. 

The owner-trainers I know on line have put a lot of thought and effort into
their work. Those whom I've met at conferences are very conscientious. In
the general public though, I see more people who think that because their
dogs can do one thing to help them, they are well trained service animals
when that may not be the case. 

I really don't think we'd be hearing so much about poorly behaved dogs if
all of the current influx of dogs, both program and owner-trained, were well
behaved and actually doing tasks for their handlers. 

Remember too that many programs have sprung up in the past 5 years
especially to serve veterans with trained dogs. Some of these programs
literally send a dog to a veteran with no actual training for the human part
of the team other than an instruction manual. We all know how important that
knowledge is for the handler as well as the dog. 

Just my thoughts. 

Jenine Stanley
jeninems at wowway.com
http://www.twitter.com/jeninems


-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Vanessa Lowery
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2012 9:39 AM
To: the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Guide Dogs And VA Facilities--what?!

Agreed.  We do need to stick with the point regarding the V.A.'s policy, but
I am glad that several of us are speaking up to state that owner trained
dogs are no more or less likely to be in good control.  No matter how the
dog became a service dog, nine times out of ten, the person at the other end
of the leash will dictate, based on his handling (or the lack thereof), if
the dog's behavior and work will be acceptable.



Vanessa Lowery, LGSW
Adult and Community Services Division
Adult Services Screening Unit
410-853-3550
VLowery at dhr.state.md.us


>>> Cindy Ray <cindyray at gmail.com> 8/9/2012 9:08 AM >>>
I think the statement it is not fair to lump all owner dogs into less
controlled because of your own experiences is no different from doing the
same with program dogs because of your own experience. There are owners and
handlers of program dogs who do very, very well, and the opposite is true. I
hope we aren't going to be doing judgments here. If we do that, then we
could easily move away from the original point, I think, which had to do
with the VA policy on service dogs. Of course, this could all be based on
the fact that I sometimes worry as to whether I measure up as a dog handler
myself. I just feel certain it can become a slippery slope. I'm no
moderator, so all can be disregarded.



Cindy Lou


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