[nagdu] Owner Trained Versus Guide Dog School Program in order to get a Guide Dog

[Mardi Hadfield]

Barb, Tami and Julie have given you a good idea of what owner training is
like. I have trained 4 successful guides for my self.The first 2, with the
help of a dog trainer.The others I trained by my self.I also had 4 dogs
that did not work out.First of all,I ended up training my own dog because
at the time I became legally blind,there were no schools that trained
guides for wheelchair users.After I had already trained my first guide,
Southeastern Guide Dogs trained a dog for a man in a manual wheelchair.
They went on to train more dogs for power chair users. I raised Lily, who
was a Siberian Husky, from a puppy .I had trained her as a mobility dog to
begin with so I just trained her to guide me.sHE WAS RETIRED AT 8 YEARS FOR
HEALTH REASONS AND DIED SHORTLY AFTER.Then I got another husky puppy,
Weecha. She worked out in the beginning but was very stubborn and not easy
to train.One day she decided that she was not going to work no matter what.
She planted her bum on the ground and nothing I did would make her get up!
I literally dragged her home as she refused to walk.She was re homed to a
family who had an autistic daughter. The dog and the girl got along great
so that worked out. On to Maximus,who was a Border Collie. Long story
short, Max had been abused before I got him and was too fearful of
everything, to be trusted in public.I still have Max.His talents lay else
where. He became my seizure alert dog. He worked only in my home,not in
public.Then I got Nala. She was by far the best Guide Dog I ever had!It
took only 4 months to train her.She was the perfect guide dog!!! I tried to
retire her at 9 years old, but she did not want to retire.I continued to
use her occasionally, to keep her happy. She worked a week before her very
sudden and unexpected death.She had a tumor on her spleen that burst and
killed her.I was devastated.Before Nala died,I had searched for another
Husky to train. After a year and a half, not being successful,I looked at
other breeds.I finally found a Belgian Shepherd and trained him. Shaman is
one of my current guides.Shaman works very well with my power wheelchair
but he is too fast with a manual wheelchair. I also could not use him while
walking as I hobble very slowIy.I just could not keep up with him and was
tripping while trying to keep up. I decided I would find another dog to
train for the manual chair and walking.I tried one of my rescued Huskies,
Wanagi. But she had Valley fever and eventually lost the sight in one of
her eyes.If Wanagi had been healthy,she would have been a good guide. I
still have Wanagi.Then I found Tipton. I tried to find some way to stop her
screeching to no avail. She did not howel like most Huskies. She did not
even bark like most dogs,she screeched!!! I found a home for her.Then I was
offered a Husky from a breeder.I had been offered this dog several times
from a puppy,then as a 6 month old dog. I could not afford the price of
this dog, so I put her out of my mind and continued to look for a dog to
train.The last time she was offered to me the price was more in my grasp. I
sold my Diamond ring and got $400 for it. Paid for Neechee and started her
training. She was easy to train as she really wanted to please me.She was a
trustworthy guide in 7 months.I am currently using her and she is a great
guide.Most of the dogs I worked with were adult dogs,accept the 2 puppies
and Shaman.Shaman was 10 months when I started him. All of them had to be
started from the very beginning. Obedience, house manners,
socialization,and cat desensitizing.Each time I had to wash out a dog from
training,It was emotionally devastating.The bond I have had with each dog
that did work out, has been very close and absolutely wonderful.I do not
think the bond I would have with a school trained dog, would be as close as
with the dogs I trained.It was financially and emotionally draining to do
it this way but I would do it again in a heart beat.Also,none of the
schools train Belgian Shepherds or Siberian Huskies. If I want those
breeds, I will have to train my own.I hope this info has been helpful to
you.Good luck!  Mardi and Shaman and Neechee.
wolfsinger.lakota at mail.com  Below is the link to my training blog IF YOU
ARE INTERESTED.
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http://wolfsinger-lakota.blogspot.com/
http://wolfsinger2-thegoldendragon.blogspot.com