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

[Tami Jarvis]

Raven,

That's really interesting. I was totally skeptical when I heard about 
guide prospects being raised in prisons for most of the reasons others 
have mentioned. The results show that it does work and work well, 
though. Now I know. /smile/

Thanks for the info.

Tami

On 08/23/2015 09:39 AM, Raven Tolliver via nagdu wrote:
> 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.
>