[nagdu] Age of Qualifying Guide Dogs

[Deanna Lewis]

Pascal was 19 months old when I received him in 2009, and he was one of the youngest dogs in our class. Most of the other dogs were about 22 months old.
He has always been very mature, and very well behaved. He didn't want to lie down on floors or get underneath tables, for the first few months. And, he seemed to mature at lot once he hit 3 years old. He has never been one of those wiggly labs, you know the ones who get so excited their whole body wiggles! LOL
One of my co-workers just got a dog that is only 15 months old. She is very puppy like!
Deanna and Pascal


-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sherry Gomes
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 5:37 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Age of Qualifying Guide Dogs

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
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/tami%40poodlemutt.c
> om
>

_______________________________________________
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/sherriola%40gmail.com


_______________________________________________
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/dlewis%40clovernook.org