[NAGDU] acquiring dog for owner training

[Julie J.]

My experiences with owner training and recently private training.

Tia was about 6 weeks old when I got her from a rescue.  I don't remember 
the exact cost, but I'd guess around $50.  I had no thought to train her as 
a guide, so did no testing or purposeful selection.

Belle was also a rescue and about 9 months or so.  Her cost was around $120, 
which included her spay and vaccinations.   I did do more careful selection 
with her as I did have plans of training her as a guide. I probably looked 
at 2 dozen dogs before choosing her.

Monty was also a rescue, about 9 months old  and his cost was also around 
$120.   I had more experience by this time and had a much clearer idea of 
what I wanted in a guide dog.  I looked at a lot of dogs before choosing 
him, maybe 50 or so.  I did temperament testing and made arrangements that I 
could return him in a month if he didn't work out.  Of course a month isn't 
enough time to know if he'd work as a guide, but it was enough time to know 
if he fit well into our home.  I checked out more options, talked to more 
people and gave myself more time to pick a dog.  I don't remember exactly, 
but I think it was several months before I found him.  It's hard to pass up 
all those dogs, but being clear on what you want does help a ton.

Jetta I purchased from a breeder for $700.  The breeder charges twice that 
now.  She was about 8 weeks when I picked her up.  I  talked to the breeder 
describing what I wanted.  The breeder did temperament testing with the 
puppies and I spent a lot of time with them before choosing from the litter. 
She was privately trained for me by Meghan and she came here when she was 14 
months old and I finished her advanced training.

What I've learned:
I really love training my own guides.  I wouldn't rule out a program, but 
right now as long as I have the time, space and resources I will continue to 
owner train or combo owner and private train.  I've been training dogs for a 
long, long time now, around 30 years.  It truly is one of my life passions.

Puppies are cute and adorable and a ton of fun...when they live at someone 
else's home.  I love puppies, but I also like sleeping all night, intact 
shoes, clean carpets and the freedom to be gone for 6 hours at a stretch 
without having to strategize who is going to let the puppy out.     Future 
guides will be puppy raised by someone else or I will get a dog between 8 
and 18 months.

Really, really smart dogs are over rated.  I don't want a dog who is dumb as 
a box of rocks, but neither do I need a doggie Einstein.  Really smart dogs 
get bored more quickly, invent new and interesting things to do, need more 
variety in guide work and generally require a higher level of handling. 
That was fine for me with Monty and Jetta, but I'll be 50 when I start the 
next dog.  I'm ready for a different kind of dog.

Breed doesn't count for as much as I thought it should.  If you've heard me 
talk about owner training for any length of time, you know I've had pretty 
strong breed preferences in the past.  The older I get, the more experience 
I obtain and the more dogs I'm around I've finally come to the realization 
that breed just isn't as important to me now.  I think especially when you 
owner train, it's more about the individual dog.  Programs breed dogs on a 
fairly large scale.  They are basing breeding decisions off of statistics. 
When you owner train you are evaluating individual dogs.  Sure a breed 
choice is a good way to narrow down which dogs you look at, but these days 
I'm not so set on any particular breed.

Personal connection with a dog does matter.  One of the things that makes me 
hesitate about getting a guide from a program is that they choose the match. 
Belle is a good example.  I chose her based on temperament, trainability, 
age, breed etc.  I didn't really have warm fuzzy feelings for her from day 
1.  I expected that would grow and develop as we got to know each other. 
That is true, to a degree, but in my experience if I have that gut feeling 
right away that we were meant for each other, we develop a much deeper and 
more meaningful connection.   That doesn't mean I choose dogs based only on 
feelings, I don't, but neither do I discount that emotional connection.

My next dog is a long way off.  Jetta is only 3, but I do think about it. 
Right now my plan is to go through a rescue, to take my time in choosing, to 
get a male between 8 and 18 months, not to focus on breed so much and to pay 
more attention to how I feel about a particular dog instead of sheer logical 
thought processes.

There were some questions about cost.  There are a ton of variables, but if 
you do owner training alone, not a private trainer, and don't spend a 
fortune on a dog, I'd plan for 1 to 2 thousand for vet, training, equipment 
and other start up expenses.   Of course that's spread out over months or 
even a couple of years.

HTH
Julie