[nagdu] Why I decided not to owner train.

Raven Tolliver ravend729 at gmail.com
Mon Sep 22 09:26:30 UTC 2014


I agree with all that has been said here.
As excited as attending GEB was, I personally would like to avoid
attending a program for my next dog. Whether I owner train or have my
successor dog privately trained will just depend on where I am in life
when I retire my dog years ahead. I didn't have a bad experience, just
an incredibly stressful one, which is a given no matter your training
situation.
But I am greatly disturbed by the number of sick or sensitive dogs
cropping up, and I would like to avoid dealing with it the next
go-round. Between sensitive tummies, bowel diseases, skin and ear
allergies/infections, and dogs seemingly going downhill around 5 or 6,
I don't find any of it normal or acceptable.
I would love to work with a naturally-reared canine. I have even
secured 2 natural-rearing golden retriever breeders nearby. They sell
their dogs for very affordable prices, and they said they would freeze
the price, so that if I still want one of their dogs for guide
training in the future, they will give me the dog for the current
going price. Got it in writing, of course!
I also want my next dog to avoid the kennel environment and be trained
without positive punishment, and I would like to have more input in
the things my dog is trained to do. The first 3 months of having my
dog was a crash course in reversing some of the effects of being a
kennel dog, and also training my dog to do things he wasn't taught.
Don't beg; don't scavenge; don't shred stuff; don't go in the garbage;
don't take food from people; find the chair, find the trash can, find
the counter; Stay put for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, and so
on. Don't disobey the stay, even in the face of distraction, and being
by yourself isn't so horrible. And on and on. He picked up on all of
it very quickly, fortunately.
Programs seem to be all for shortening the formal guide training
periods anyway, so I fear we're all going to be training our own dogs
soon. From 6 months, to 4 months, to 2 months, where does it stop?
I am also disturbed by the age at which schools are turning dogs out.
As someone who has trained dogs, though it was for a short 15 months,
I see the night-and-day difference between working with an adolescent
and working with an adult, and the stress it puts on a dog when people
expect more out of them than what they are capable of. Fortunately, I
attended a program that doesn't adhere to this trend.
About the Big Brother thing, I think Nicole was saying that some
people, herself not included, consider the annual health/work report
and visits from field reps are Big Brother-esque. Yeah, I get it. GEB
would appreciate it if grads completed their health and work reports,
and even give an incentive, but I personally opt out. If people wanna
schedule a visit, whatever.
I think more owner trainers and even private trainers are cropping up
because people are realizing that there is an alternative. Everyone
can't or doesn't want to attend a guide dog program for a number of
reasons. So if you can't, train your own, or hire someone to do it.
And I don't encourage anyone for settling less than what they want. If
you want it badly enough, you will go after it and make it happen. And
that is what I see in the people who decide to go through the
painstaking process of securing and training their own dogs.

On 9/21/14, Danielle Antoine via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Right on the money Vivianna. I totally agree!
>
>
> On 9/21/14, debby phillips via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Nicole, with Seeing Eye, from the time I finish my training I own
>> my dog.  I don't have to report to the school until I'm ready for
>> my next dog if I don't want to.  Sometimes, or so it used to be,
>> that if an instructor was in your area they might call and ask if
>> you'd like a visit.  Even that doesn't happen anymore.  If the
>> school gets a call about abuse, they will then check with the
>> graduate, explaining that they received a call, and asking if
>> they might be of assistance.  If there is abuse, Seeing Eye
>> refers the matter to Animal Control, or whoever the authority is
>> in the city or county where the graduate lives.  One of the
>> reasons I chose not to go to GDB in the first place was I didn't
>> want the annual report and yearly follow up.  I want to call my
>> school when I need their help, not when they think I should.  But
>> that's personal preference.  So if you feel like that's "Big
>> Brother" then perhaps you need to consider whether that's where
>> want to get your dogs.  I wouldn't go to a school that I didn't
>> like, or agree with, mostly.  It's too important a decision,
>> because I would be receiving a dog that might be with me for the
>> next ten years.    Peace,    Debby and Neena
>>
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-- 
Raven
"if God didn't make it, don't eat it." - John B. Symes, D.V.M.
http://dogtorj.com




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