[nagdu] Age of Qualifying Guide Dogs

Nicole Torcolini ntorcolini at wavecable.com
Fri Feb 21 04:09:54 UTC 2014


Lexia wiggles when she is not in harness. Okay, there are a few people that
she more than wiggles for even when in the harness, but she usually is good
about knowing when it is time to work.
Lexia was 21 months when I received her. She was a pass back from the month
before. I like to say that she waited for me. The other dogs in our class
were probably 20 months. She was not overly puppiesh. Then again, it's kind
of hard to tell with some labs because there's a certain amount of
bounciness that stays with them forever, but that's the way I like it. I
asked for a dog with personality, and I got exactly what I asked for. I
don't remember her changing that much over our first year together. Most of
the changes were us getting used to each other and building a routine. Even
if you have a routine during training and think that you have a routine
planned for when you get home, such as going to high school during the week,
there will always be things to work out.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Daryl Marie
Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2014 6:39 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Age of Qualifying Guide Dogs

oh, Jenny is a wiggler!  My husband has nicknamed her "wiggles".  I don't
mind so much if she's out of harness and old friends come and say hi.  But
when she meets new people, I always remind her "manners" and it seems to
calm her down. it's cute!

Daryl
----- Original Message -----
From: Deanna Lewis <DLewis at clovernook.org>
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thu, 20 Feb 2014 07:37:09 -0700 (MST)
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Age of Qualifying Guide Dogs

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
>
> _______________________________________________
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>

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