[nagdu] Service dogs who were pets

Tracy Carcione carcione at access.net
Fri Aug 30 18:17:53 UTC 2013


Julie, I'll buy that.  That seems to make the problem easier though, maybe. 
Encourage people to expect good behavior of their pets.  Then, if a pet 
becomes a service dog, it's not a problem.
Of course, I think dog clubs and such do encourage their members to train 
their dogs to behave, and it hasn't really filtered out to large numbers of 
people.  It is the kind of thing that could be addressed by ads or posters 
or whatever, though, if someone wanted to.
Tracy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie J." <julielj at neb.rr.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, August 30, 2013 2:04 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Service dogs who were pets


>I think it really depends on how the dogs were raised, not so much that 
>they were pets.  For example many pet owners think the begging thing is 
>cute and allow it.  However there are many pet owners who think begging is 
>not cool and don't allow it.  Same goes with jumping up, stealing food, 
>sniffing inappropriately etc.  I know some pet dogs who could very easily 
>transition to being service dogs.  I think you're right though, in that 
>most folks don't have very big expectations of what their dog should be 
>doing if it is transitioned from pet to service dog.  The mindset of it's 
>okay at home so it's okay here, seems to be pretty common. I guess I'm 
>saying that it's not so much that the dog was a pet, but how the person 
>views pets, as what I see as a potentially problematic situation.
>
> Julie
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Tracy Carcione
> Sent: Friday, August 30, 2013 11:46 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Service dogs who were pets
>
> Did the training center instruct the owners about the kind of behavior
> expected of service dogs?  Or did they work it out on their own?
> Tracy
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Margo Downey and Arrow" <margo.downey at verizon.net>
> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, August 30, 2013 12:31 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Service dogs who were pets
>
>
>> Hi.  A couple of friends have service dogs who were their pets but were
>> trained at a service dog facility--very wonderful balance dogs.  The
>> facility staff determined that the dogs would be good for the service
>> purpose and then trained them for that.
>>
>> Margoa nd Arrow
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tracy Carcione
>> Sent: Friday, August 30, 2013 10:54 AM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: [nagdu] Service dogs who were pets
>>
>> I've been thinking about what Ann said about expectations.  I bet many
>> people who have trained a pet to be a service dog still think of it first 
>> as
>> a pet, if only subconsciously.  There's Fluffy, begging at the table, 
>> saying
>> Hi to everyone he meets, and then Joe Q discovers Fluffy can do this 
>> great
>> extra thing, like detect low blood sugar or anxiety, and alert him to it, 
>> so
>> Joe Q trains Fluffy to enhance that ability, but doesn't do any other
>> training, or change how he thinks about Fluffy, except to appreciate his 
>> new
>> skill.  On the other hand, most of us, from the first, think of our dogs 
>> as
>> service dogs first, and pets second.  From the beginning, everything we 
>> do
>> is with service in mind, and thus we expect a different standard of
>> behavior.  Everything that's done has to be evaluated as to how it will
>> affect the dog's work. For instance, I'm sure Jetta is not being allowed 
>> to
>> beg at the table, because that is not acceptable guide dog behavior.
>> So, as Ann said, people who've trained pets as service dogs have to be 
>> made
>> more aware of acceptable service dog behavior, which, IMO, requires a 
>> change
>> of mindset.  I'm not sure how that could be done, though.  I wonder if an
>> organization like IAADP could be helpful, having as members many kinds of
>> assistance dog partners.
>> Tracy
>>
>>
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