[nagdu] allergies

Sun Feb 26 23:39:24 UTC 2012

Hello:

Well, as you said, each dog is different. I have a shepherd who is just as laid back as you could hope--however, if I tell him it's time to play and whip out the Kong, forget it--he's all over the place. All guide dogs should be "good" with kids, so far as good means not aggressive, tolerant, etc. Labs are known for their outgoing social nature. My mother has poodles, and they seem to be mid-way between a lab and a shepherd on the social scale.

I think it's more important to tell the trainers about the behavior you desire from a dog rather than just the breeds--ideally, all guide dogs will be quiet and still when told to be so, and vice versa. There are general differences in breeds, but some dogs are just different.
One of my class mates at TSE had a shepherd who had the stubbornness of a shepherd but the food drive of a lab. I have a shepherd who is surprisingly social (for a shepherd) but who hasn't the food drive of a lab. He is reserved until he detects that it's time to play, and then as I said, he can be a ball of energy. I don't know much about shedding, allergies, etc., as that wasn't a concern for me. As far as that goes, it would probably be better to focus on different breeds.
So, to recap--focus on individual dogs (and not breeds) for desirable personality traits and breeds for desired allergenic and coat characteristics. I hope this is some tiny photon of help.

Robert Hooper
Hooper.90 at buckeyemail.osu.edu
The Ohio State University
0653 Buckeye-Cuyahoga CT
653 Cuyahoga Court
Columbus, Ohio 43210
(740) 856-8195

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jessica Pitzer
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2012 5:42 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] allergies

so, here is my question.
i'm on teh list for pilot, at this time they are only searching for a female standard poodle for me because I have minor dog allergy, and I absolutely can't stand the dog hair the labs put off, it made me itch, and I couldn't handle the extra carpet it seemed to make next to my bed where my dog woudl lay.
Now here is the question. I know pilot does 7 breeds, german shepherd, golden, lab, dobby, boxer, vizsla, and poodle.
I need a dog who is lowish shed, or at least shorter hair, or something I could brush out and it owuldnt' beleft on the floor so much as in the brush. I need a dog who is rreally really good with kids. I have a 5 month old baby, and I hope to have another baby in the future, so this dog will need to be okay with that.
I prefer a more laid back kind of dog, one who woudl lay down rather than run 50 laps aroudn my house non stop. I don't mind going out in the back yard for some leash/off leash time once we have a fence for the off leash, or some fetch etc. but I need a dog who will be quieter in teh house, a lot of constant novement like that makes me nervous.
I know there are differences in each individual dog, however I'm wondering if I could open up my breed list to pilot a bit and if so what breeds? I also am wondering about something else. I have had a couple of labs and seen countless others. Some seem to have very thick almost fluffy type coats, while a few I've felt had very short, almost fuzzy coats, whcih didn't seem to shed as much has anyone else seen this? If so could I perhaps ask them to find me a lab like that?
Apartment form that, what of the 7 breeds have you known to be calm, good with kids, and the rest of the stuff I've said here? Shoudl I just stick with teh poodle? I'm just asking this because I'm afraid that by limiting myself to the poodle I might be passing up a very good dog of another breed, but at the same time I dont' want hair completely everywhere.
Jessica

On 2/26/12, Larry D. Keeler <lkeeler at comcast.net> wrote:
> When I went to Pilot, they corrected the harness probblem.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Lyn Gwizdak" <linda.gwizdak at cox.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2012 4:05 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] allergies
>
>
>> Welcome back, Lori.
>>
>> I knew two Vislas from Pilot back in the 1990s.  They were both good 
>> dogs but I saw that Pilot didn't have a harness small enough to fit 
>> them properly.  I never saw a Visla before meeting those two but I 
>> had heard about the breed from dog books and dog shows.
>>
>> Their hair is extremely short with a single layer coat.  So Pilot no 
>> longer uses that breed?  There's nobody around here with a Pilot dog 
>> anymore. One person with a Pilot dog moved away and the other two 
>> went to other schools when they retired their Vislas.  Wonder why 
>> Pilot stopped using Vislas?
>>
>> Lyn and Landon
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "loriandleo" <loriandleo at ohiohills.com>
>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2012 3:50 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] allergies
>>
>>
>>> Nicloe,
>>>
>>> Pilot Dog used to train Vesula's. Take care.
>>>
>>> Lori and the Gipper
>>>
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>>
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