[nagdu] Owner training

[Katrin Andberg]

Hi Tracy

 

I think that probably a dog who was "healthy, intelligent, sensible, and
willing to work" would probably make it as a guide.  The crux is that there
are many, many, many, many dogs who are not healthy, intelligent, sensible
and willing to work.  The dogs I had to wash out one ended up with
idiopathic epilepsy at age 6m, which shocked his breeder and I as we thought
we knew his lines inside and out.  Another I had to wash out because she
ended up with an aggression problem.  I had also evaluated and decided
against other dogs due to temperament or structural issues that would have
made them unsuitable.  
 
To make it as a guide dog the dog to start must be healthy, this means
structurally sound and medically cleared.  So no hip or elbow dysplasia,
eyes must past exam, knees must be sound, etc.  Lack of medical or
structural soundness washes out a large chunk of program bred dogs who don't
make it as guides.  After medically cleared then we get to temperamental
soundness.  Dog can't be noise sensitive, or sensitive about surfaces.  He's
got to be confident in changing and often times novel and stressful
environments.  He has to have a good degree of intelligence and as you said,
sensibility, and the dog has to be biddable, willing to work with a person
and want to do right.  He can have no trace of aggressive behavior in
stressful or unpleasant situations, he can't be spooky or nervous, he has to
be mentally sound.
 
Those criteria when one looks at the average dog, are pretty stringent.
Most average dogs wouldn't meet the criteria.  Even lesser of dogs in
shelters would meet those criteria as the most common dog found in a shelter
is the one who has behaviors that a previous owner found intolerable.  They
have behavior or lack of socialization issues that would immediately wash
them out as a guide dog candidate.  So if one is looking for a dog with
guide dog material one really is looking for that top 1% of dogs, as one
needs a dog with sound structure, health, temperament and trainability all
rolled into one.  That dog can often times be a challenge to find.   
 
Katrin