[nagdu] Owner training

[Melissa Green]

Katrin,
Glad that you and your dog guide are doing so well.



Warmly,
Melissa and PJ Green
Don't ask God to make your life easier, ask him to make you a stronger 
person.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Katrin Andberg" <katrin at maplewooddog.com>
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2012 5:52 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Owner training


> On owner training, finding the dog with the right structure and aptitude 
> can
> often times be the most challenging part.  I believe the current statistic
> on guide/service dogs is only about 1% of the dog population has what it
> takes to successfully make it as a guide or service dog.  For me, I owner
> trained my 1st dog successfully, then spent 3 years and probably close to
> $8,000 on dogs that didn't work out.  Dogs that didn't work out for health
> reasons or temperament reasons.  That being said I had very specific wants
> in a dog for both temperament, structure and breed.  After 3 years, I
> decided to cut my losses and went to a program.  I don't really like
> purebred Labradors and most purebred Goldens wouldn't be a good 
> temperament
> match for me, and after washing out a couple of dogs, if I couldn't have a
> flat coat, which is my breed of choice, I really wanted a lab golden cross
> and that's what GDF matched me with and I love him.
>
>
>
> Having done both the owner training and the program route, I will say that
> while I love owner training, from a cost and risk perspective my next dog
> will probably also be a program dog.
>
>
>
> Katrin
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/graduate56%40juno.com
>
>