[nagdu] Age of Qualifying Guide Dogs

Raven Tolliver ravend729 at gmail.com
Thu Feb 20 05:15:07 UTC 2014


That's good to hear. They are doing right by their dogs and their
graduates by hanging on till 2 years of age. Some of the schools that
push the dogs through earlier are indulging in assembly line
evaluation and training, in my opinion.

On 2/19/14, Darla Rogers <djrogers0628 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Raven,
>
> 	GDA does not put out dogs much below two year either, so far as I
> know because they do buck the trends and do what they feel works.
> Darla & Huggable Huck
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Raven Tolliver
> Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 5:48 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Age of Qualifying Guide Dogs
>
> Hi,
> This kind of maturity is not a matter of how young a dog behaves, but has
> more to do with a dog's work ethic, physical maturity and endurance, and
> behavioral consistency. Adolescent dogs are not done growing mentally and
> physically, and they do not demonstrate behavior consistently as older dogs
> do. Not that certain adult dogs are not difficult or stubborn, but
> adolescent dogs are difficult on a completely different level. They do not
> generalize as well, and they definitely go through short periods of what
> seems like forgetfulness.
> Personally, I attended a guide dog program that gives out dogs ranging from
> 2 to 3, and not any younger. I'm glad that they go against what seems to be
> common with many US guide dog schools.
> If I opt for a program-trained dog my next go round, I might not be so
> picky
> about my dog's age. With my experience in dog training, I will be far
> better
> able to handle a teenage dog. But as someone who had never cared for,
> worked
> with, or owned a dog before, I felt it was imperative to get an adult dog
> for my first guide.
> I've corresponded with the guide dog school of Sweden a couple times.
> I think it's great that they only issue adult dogs. What's also nice about
> that program is that they are a very small school, so the trainers are able
> to keep the dogs in their homes for the duration of their training, rather
> than putting the dogs up in kennels. The kennel environment is incredibly
> stressful on a dog mentally and physically, and it deteriorates some of the
> manners dogs are taught by their puppy-raisers.
>
>
> On 2/19/14, Sherry Gomes <sherriola at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I think the same could apply to labs. My current guide is a reissue,
>> so she was three when we trained together. what a difference! I don't
>> want my next guide to be 18 months old as so many are when graduating.
>> Two years old is the youngest I'd want and I'd jump to have a reissue
>> again. Though having said that, Bianca, who was about 2 when we
>> trained and is 13 now is still young at heart and full of spirit and a
> sort of happy puppy mentality.
>> Olga,
>> my working guide is 8 and has a very old soul. I'm sure she was always
>> that way even when she was a baby.
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tami Jarvis
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 12:01 PM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Age of Qualifying Guide Dogs
>>
>> Ooh! Research! Poodles are said to mature later, both physically and
>> mentally, and I did find that with mine. She really came into her own
>> between 3 and 4. Then again, I've heard of a few people getting really
>> young poodles that seem to work out well. Okay. Off to read. /smile/
>>
>> Tami
>>
>> On 02/19/2014 10:22 AM, "Leye-Shprintse Öberg" wrote:
>>> BS"D
>>>
>>> Raven,
>>>
>>> * "... I did some research and found a study on Seeing Eye dogs that
>> concluded that goldens and GSds are more successful as guide dogs if
>> they're formal guide training is longer than the standard 4 months.
>> This is because these dogs mature around age 2, not 1.5 or 1.75 years,
>> which is when many schools seem to be pushing dogs through. Here's the
>> link to the abstract.
>> http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1558787806000256  ..."
>>>
>>> I think this is very interesting. I know that SRF:s
>>> Ledarhundsverksamhet
>> (Guide Dogs Sweden) took the decision that the dogs needed to be
>> between the age of 2 and 3 years when they did the qualifying test
>> some years ago. The dogs here generally get around seven months of
>> training by a guide dog trainer. Anyhow, they think this has led to
>> more stable partnerships; I've any statestics tough.
>>>
>>> Kind regards,
>>> Leye-Shprintse and Hera <3
>>>
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>>
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>
>
> --
> Raven
>
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-- 
Raven




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