[nagdu] Cost of a service dog
Cindy Ray
cindyray at gmail.com
Tue Aug 27 17:39:56 UTC 2013
I think what Ken was saying is that the school estimates the cost to them. There are such estimates that are publicized.
Cindy Lou
On Aug 27, 2013, at 12:37 PM, "Howard J. Levine" <WB2HWW at earthlink.net> wrote:
> What are you talking about GEB in York town does not charge at all.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ken Ace
> Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 1:03 PM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Cost of a service dog
>
> I can only give you my experience. My school estimates the cost of a guide
> dog at $60,000 and my only cost was for the 28 days of dog food. Everything
> else was covered. I didn't really appreciate their program till I got
> involved with NAGDU. I have tried to give back by raising money, giving
> talks supporting the school, etc.
> Ken & Ace
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Laurel and
> Stockard
> Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 12:42 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Cost of a service dog
>
> Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I understand, guide dogs are
> also possibly the most expensive type of service dog to train? I know their
> training is more intense and maybe even takes longer than say a diabetes
> dog's training. I'm not saying that diabetes dogs or any other kind of dog
> is less well trained or that the other service dog trainers don't work as
> hard, but as you probably know, a guide dog has to know and do a lot more
> than just 2 or 3 tasks. I'm thinking if guide dog schools charged clients a
> certain percentage of the training costs, it would be quite expensive. I
> would love to do a study done on the real costs of training a guide dog (I
> believe this can run between 50,000 and 80,000 dollars for a school trained
> dog) and the cost of other types of service dogs with relation to how that
> does or does not have an effect on client charges etc.
> Just my theory anyways. Some schools might give dogs for free because they
> have a low opinion of the blind, but my personal opinion is that it probably
> has more to do with if we were actually charged for our dogs the same way
> other people get ccharged for theirs (usually a percentage of the training
> costs from what I understand) we'd be paying way more than other service dog
> clients.
> This is definitely an interesting topic and like I said above, I'd love to
> see an official study done on it. Maybe there's already one out there?
> Laurel and Stockard
> On Aug 27, 2013, at 10:06 AM, Jenine Stanley wrote:
>
>> Tracy,
>>
>>
>> It all has to do with economies of scale.
>>
>> Yes, the guide dog schools are fairly well established organizations,
>> even the newer ones, and have an established organizational model that
>> says you don't charge for services, or you do the minimal charge of
>> asking a student to pay for travel, or, as is the case with TSE, a
>> nominal charge for other reasons.
>>
>> Many service dog programs are very small and simply have no other way
>> of garnering the funds to do what they do.
>>
>> I have and will always defend TSE's policy of the nominal fee as I
>> truly believe in its purpose.
>>
>> Guide Dog Foundation's service dog arm, America's VetDogs, is, I
>> believe, the only program that does not charge a fee to obtain a
>> service dog and attend training class. That said, what prompts a lot
>> of owner-training in the service dog world is the waiting list at
>> schools. It takes us a long time to find the right dog to match
>> someone's needs. Many people find it easier to owner-train. Many also
>> try it and come back for the wait when they find it's not as easy as
>> it
> seems.
>>
>> Hope that helps.
>>
>>
>> Jenine Stanley
>> jeninems at wowway.com
>> http://www.twitter.com/jeninems
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tracy
>> Carcione
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 10:49 AM
>> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [nagdu] Cost of a service dog
>>
>> Marion's recent question about the cost of a service dog got me thinking.
>> It's my impression that many non-guide service dog training centers
>> charge a lot to their clients, like thousands of dollars. When TSE
>> started out, they charged a fee that was substantial at the time, but
>> now is less than I've spent taking guests out to a nice dinner. The
>> norm among guide dog schools is to charge nothing, or a nominal fee,
>> so much so that I hear people complain about TSE's fee.
>> I wonder why other service dog training centers charge so much, while
>> those for guide dogs charge so little? My first guess Is it's because
>> the guide dog schools are well-established charities, with sufficient
>> donations. Or is it possible that blind people expect to get things
>> free, and other disabled people don't?
>> The cost certainly explains the relative numbers of owner-trainers.
>> If I had to raise thousands every time I needed a new dog, it would
>> make owner-training a very attractive alternative.
>> Anyway, just wondering, and not complaining.
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>>
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