[nagdu] Prison-raised guide dogs, here's the scoop

[Raven Tolliver]

Several listers have emailed me with questions on the prison puppies
program, but I didn't want to talk out of my a$$, so I've gathered
some more information. Given, I am most familiar with the prison pups
at LDB, not at any other program, so here's the scoop.

It has been proven that prison pups are 15% more likely to graduate
than in-home raised pups. Just under 50% of home-raised pups make it
as guides, and 60-65% of prison pups make it as guides. Here are the
speculations on why this is so.
1. Prison pups have more consistency and strict handling than
home-raised guide dogs. Prisoners spend 24-7 with their pups, and like
folks in the military, these prison raisers are trained to expect
precision, correct position, and consistent and appropriate behavior
at all times.
2. Prison raisers never raise puppies solo. All prison puppies have
raiser groups, consisting of 4 prisoners who are responsible for the
care and training of that dog. They remain in these groups every day,
not just several times a month or week like other puppy-raisers. This
requires teamwork, but it also means that off the bat, the pup readily
obeys more than one person, and that the raisers are all equally
educated on handling and care techniques.
3. The prison environment is more consistent than the home
environment. Prisoners lack the daily distractions and stresses of a
home environment, and thus do not have periods where their pup's
training may fall to the wayside or be thrown on the back burner. The
puppy is all they have to focus on, and so that pup has more training
sessions than home-raised dogs.

What trainers have found with prison-raised vs. home-raised dogs is
this: prison-raised dogs need more socialization, while home-raised
pups need more obedience work. What does that mean?
Prison-raised pups are obviously limited in their socialization
opportunities since they can only be exposed to so many environments
and situations in the prisons. Yes, some prisons have villages set up
where their are shopping mall-like set ups, vehicles on the premises,
etc., but there is no way to completely recreate what a dog can be
exposed to on the outside world, so this is the trainers' job.
LDB tried having temporary puppy-raisers take the dogs for just the
weekends, but this resulted in the pups having behavior issues. Yes,
just staying with raisers in a home environment for 2 or 3 days
created behavioral issues. So that aspect of the program was scrapped.
At some prisons, the guards partake in the dogs' socialization to the
outside world and take them to local puppy outings.
Also, prison-raised dogs go through periodic behavioral evaluations.
Each dog is assessed on their strengths and weaknesses, and
adjustments are made to their training program according to the
results of their assessment.
When the guide dog trainers get the dogs, they expose them to many
different sounds, textures, and environments. The trainers find that
the pups are very confident in people and what they expect from them,
and so they adapt to new environments and experiences very well.
Home-raised dogs need more work with obedience. Even though these
puppies receive special training to enter the guide dog program, most
of them live more like pets in their raisers' homes. Many raisers
don't practice obedience on a daily basis. Furthermore, the pups are
used to primarily listening to one person, and spending most if not
all of their time with that person in every situation. It seems that
they are not as strict with their puppies as the prison raisers are.

I have personal experience with the prison-raised pups. When they come
in for medical procedures or medical evaluations, they stay in the
kennels in puppyland. In my experience, these pups are easier to
handle, are more obedient, and are not as stressed by the kennel
environment. They are very quiet, do not experience separation
anxiety, and are excellent at loose-leash walking.
On the other hand, many of the home-raised dogs experience separation
anxiety, will drag you on leash if you let them, lunge after objects
or people on-leash, and bark persistently, some to the point of losing
their voices. Many of them jump up on the kennel doors and bark to get
attention from people, and do not listen very well. This isn't the
case for all of them, but many of them. I've had some very
well-composed home-raised dogs, but you definitely know the difference
when you have a prison-raised dog.
The prison dogs seem to know what is expected of them at all times, no
matter the environment or handler, whereas many of the home-raised
dogs are very testy and stressed when in new environments or when they
are handled by unfamiliar people.

Just my 2 cents. I know this brought up great controversy when
discussed before so if the moderators shut the topic down, I
understand. I just wanted to answer some people's questions.
-- 
Raven
Founder of 1AM Editing & Research
www.1am-editing.com

You are valuable because of your potential, not because of what you
have or what you do.

Naturally-reared guide dogs
https://groups.google.com/d/forum/nrguidedogs