[NAGDU] Guide Dogs trained in the US working in Germany? and guide dogs in Germany in General, was, Ownership in Germany - for Rebecca and everyone who's interested

[Bianka]

Hi Heather and list, 

As far as access rights go, people with dogs who were trained elsewhere usually have the same access rights. The only legal problem might be that the harness has to be white to be recognized as a sign of blindness. If the harness is not white, the blind handler might have to carry a short folding cane so the other participants in street traffic know that they are dealing with a blind person. However, I don't have the legal knowledge to really know that for sure. As for the allowance for food and vaccines paid by the insurance, that depends on the insurance. For example, my dog was trained by a well-known school in switzerland and my health insurance is paying the school a monthly ammount. The dog is owned by the school and they provide follow-up services and look for a retirement home if it becomes necessary. 

As for GSDs, there are still some shepherds but sadly the good shepherd breeding lines are hard to find. Therefor guide dog schools prefer to use other breeds nowadays. Personally, I have seen some great shepherds but you have to find the right dog for the handler and that appears to be harder with gsds than with labs and/or lab/golden crosses. 

Btw., it's no longer possible to get a dog from the U. S. If you live in Germany nowadays. A few years back Guiding Eyes had a program for international students but that was discontinued. 

And no, there is no longer an association between the guide dog schools and the military. In fact, after the 2nd World War, the guide dog movement had a very difficult time in Western Germany whereas in Eastern Germany they had two schools going. That changed at the end of the 80s when people who had trained in other countries came back to Germany and the trainers from East Germany could freely travel. Still the schools are usually quite small. The system cannot be compared with Great Britain or the U. S. There are no big guide dog schoos organized as foundations like in the Netherlands or in other European countries. ThatÄs why it is so difficult to get a guide dog lobby going.

It's hard to get a guide dog because of the high costs involved for the health insurance. Also, there are a lot of guide dog schools but only few of them manage to turn out really well-trained dogs in a reliable fashion. 

Feel free to write me off list if you would like more information as I think this is a topic not too manny of you might be interested in. 

Thanks and kind regards,

Bianka