[nagdu] Introducing my team.

[Wayne And Harley]

Hello, I am a new list member so I thought it behooved  ( bepawed? *grin* ) me to introduce myself.My name is Wayne Scace. I grew up on my family's dairy farm herding our cows with a collie and a succession of Blue Heelers. I have been a Guide Dog Owner for fifteen years and an Owner Trainer for five of those fifteen. My first three Guides came from a school.  My cureent Guide Dog Harley, is a five year old, male American White Shepherd X Labrador cross. He is my first Owner Trained Guide Dog. I have also Owner Trained two other pups that turned out to be perfect matches for two friends of mine. Those two pups are going strong Guiding my friends. All three have been on "Active Duty" for a bit over four years now.Let's get this next bit out in the open right away.....I have nothing, but respect for all Guide Dog Schools and have zero axes to grind about them. That is NOT the reason that I chose to Owner Train. Choosing to Owner Train is a purely personal decision, akin to choosing whether to use a White Cane, or a Guide Dog to get around. Each of us must decide what's best for us ourselves. I chose to use a Guide Dog and after a decade working with School Trained Guides I decided to take the opportunity and Owner Train. I am in no way, shape, or form saying that every Guide Dog Owner must Owner Train. Just as I do NOT say every blind must uee a Guide Dog. It is the choice of each individual, and I respect those choices, as I ask you to respect mine. By the way:Owner Training predates Guide Dog Schools by several millennia as the Guide Dog School concept is less than a century old, only dating back to post World War One Germany.Have a great week.


Yours, Very Sincerely And Respectfully,

Wayne M. Scace