[NAGDU] Guide dogs aroundthe world, current developments

Mon Apr 23 21:00:22 UTC 2018

hi star gazer
To answer your question, the familiar area is for the handler owner as most schools in Europe work on the basis of getting the guide familiar with their handler and how relaxed the first six months should be for the dog relaxed and so called stress free.  For the second part of your question, the dog would have to rely on the confidence of the handler owner in that area.  They do not encourage working in unfamiliar areas for again six months that is how the training is done in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom as both schools have a very close working relationship.
Hope this has answered your question
warm wishes
Gabriel

> On Apr 23, 2018, at 9:28 PM, Star Gazer via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 					When people say the guide dogs in Europe only work in familiar areas, what does that mean? Who are the areas familiar to, the human or the dog? What happens if a person takes their dog to a new area? 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Dan Weiner via NAGDU
> Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2018 8:14 AM
> To: Bianka via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Dan Weiner <dcwein at dcwein.cnc.net>
> Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Guide dogs aroundthe world, current developments
> 
> Very interesting, Bianka, now I have no answers but a comment, first of all I think our schools should work more on find commands and spend more time training the dogs on off leash recall.
> 
> I asked several different schools about why the European dogs seem to have a lot more in their repertoire of find commands and I never got a good answer other than them saying things like "oh well the dogs there only work in familiar areas so it's more that the dogs are used to thing they find daily" I'll leave that one without comment.
> 
> As far as off leash running around say in a forest, you know it's never that I objected to the idea but I do think it could be pretty difficult here to find a safe place. I have no idea whether there are good places for that in Europe and I imagine there is, also the requirement of an hour a day seems like it would take some doing to work in to your schedule...I'm wondering, those few Germans I've heard of who came to the US schools, or other Europeans who come to our schools, how did they deal with that in Europe, I'm interested also o for selfish reasons I'd love to live in Europe some day as it's been my desire for a long time and I'd be using a guide dog pretty much the rest of my life I suspect--smile
> 
> 
> Anyway, I wish you will and will see what people have to say.
> 
> 
> 
> My honest idea about off leash running around here is that it's not a good idea here in the States and better to have a fenced in area, I say that based on  the environment traffic, people, hazards in the environment generally, and of course I don't see how you would guarantee that 100 percent of the time that your dog comes back to you. I talked to a lady from Denmark who takes her dog to off leash play time in a forest but she goes with a sighted person...
> 
> 
> Cordially from Florida,
> 
> Dan W.
> 
> On 4/21/2018 7:51 AM, Bianka via NAGDU wrote:
>> Hello list,
>> 
>> A few days back I was watching a Youtube channel about a guide dog puppy in training, I think it was a GdB puppy. The series got me thinking. When I considered first training with a guide dog I joined Buddy-l and found out that there are major cultural differences in guide dog training. For example, in Germany, you have to provide your guide dog with free running time, no leash, no harness and ideally you have to find dogs your dog can sozialize with. My school requires us to provide about one hour a day free time for the dog in which he/she does not wear  a harness and preferably some of this time should be off leash outside in a park,  or in the country or the forest. Also, we don‘t use hand signals or position to convey commands to the dog and tie downs or crates are a rarity. No prong collars are allowed, although some people use head collars like Haltis or Gentle leaders. Also, our dogs are taught to go into the street when something is blocking the curb, to go around the obstacle and then return to the curb. Slowly, schools start teaching blind handlers to pick up after their dogs. We have about 30 to 40 commands a dog is required to know when fully trained, a lot of them find commands.
>> 
>> I was wondering, how is the policy in the U. S. Or in other countries around off leash recall these days? Did something change in the last years as clicker training and food rewards have been introduced regarding the training and handling of guide dogs?
>> 
>> I am just currious here.
>> 
>> Thanks for reading. ..
>> 
>> Kind regards,
>> 
>> Bianka
>> 
>> 
>> 
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