[NAGDU] Owner training

Wed Apr 10 23:54:11 UTC 2019

Hi, this little illustration might give some perspective about the
difference between receiving a trained guide dog and being a good handler,
and training a dog.  I have a friend who has had guide dogs all his life,
believe it or not, since he was about 9 years old. He received his dogs from
Pilot and I can't remember if he was in some sort of special experiment or
what but he really did get his first dog at the age of 9. He's been a very
successful handler all of his life, as well.

He and his wife adopted a rescue dog a year or so before she died, that was
about 6 years ago. So, for the first time, he was faced with an untrained
dog maybe about a year old or so. I remember so clearly how shocked he was
about how much work it was to train that dog, he had no idea the amount of
training that a guide dog receives before we ever see them. 

I just share this just as something to think about when considering owner
training, for most of us it's probably not an option at all, for some it's
something to think about, but probably way more of a project than we'd ever
really want to take on. I also had a friend who thought she'd train her own
dog, and it never worked out and she needed to go back to get an
already-trained guide dog, too.  It really does take a special person to do
the training so it's something to think long and hard about.

Charlene
-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Alyssa Henson via NAGDU
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2019 6:37 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Alyssa Henson <alyssahenson95 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Owner training

Jordan,
I don't see how name calling will help your situation. I don't believe Julie
meant any harm. She was not saying you don't possess the qualities to owner
train she was simply stating that in general, it takes a lot out of a person
to be a good owner trainer. She is a wonderful person and a great source of
information. With that said, I am sorry to hear you are having problems with
your guide dog school. That is super frustrating indeed.
Alyssa and Jan

On Wed, Apr 10, 2019 at 6:28 PM Rox Homstad via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Jordan.
> I have been reading this whole thread and honestly am not seeing 
> anything problematic with what Julie said She invited you/others to 
> join both our conference call and the get together.  She also said 
> that in order to be a successful owner trainer, you have to have a 
> certian kind of mindset/motive.  She didn't say you did not, just that 
> it takes a certain kind of person and she is right, doing it because 
> you are angry or resentful is not going to get you far.  It is hard and
expensive in terms
> of both money and time/energy spent.   Retraining a dog from the ground up
> is completely different than retraining a dog you got from a program 
> and who needs retraining, at least it was for me because I have done both.
> For what its worth, this is what I think one needs to be a successful 
> owner trainer.
> 1. Good O&M, this should be self-explanitory.
> 2. A love of dogs, and a willingness to put up with dog BS meaning 
> this is going to be an un trained dog you will have for the first 
> while. It is going to do things like pee in the house and eat your 
> earbuds and steal your sandwich and you are going to have to be patient
and teach it.
> 3. Most owner trainers are self-motivated, are blunt-spoken, are 
> willing to hear criticism, even when its something that sucks and you 
> don't want to hear.  You don't have a program to call when crap goes 
> off the rails, you are both the trainer and the end user and being an 
> owner trainer means you'd better be able to get real with yourself 
> real quick or someone's going to get hurt if there is a bad situation.
> 4. Love of learning/love of teaching.
> I don't know you and I don't know if you have any of these qualities 
> or not.
> If you want to start with a dog who is at an age to be trained, you 
> can either go the rescue dog route, or through a breeder or a private 
> rehoming, such as if you know a friend who has a dog that they are 
> rehoming and you think would be a good fit for your life.
> When you pick a dog, take someone with you who is neutral, this is not 
> a rehab project.  You have to decide everything from the dog's 
> training and what to train first to what equipment to use.
> It is hard, takes up most of your time and money, and is a huge 
> physical/mental/emotional investment with the result that the dog 
> could be unsuitable and you could be left with a year of hard work and 
> nothing to show for it.
> With all that said the people who like doing it, still do, but it 
> doesn't make any of the hard stuff less hard Rox'E and the Kitchen 
> Bitches Soleil, Rowan, Phoenix pawpower4me at gmail.com
>
> > On Apr 10, 2019, at 6:01 PM, Jordan Gallacher via NAGDU <
> nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> >
> > BTW, your attitude has just lost any further business I was going to 
> > give you and I will make sure everyone I know knows about your lousy
attitude.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Julie Johnson 
> > via
> NAGDU
> > Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2019 5:39 PM
> > To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users 
> > <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> > Cc: Julie Johnson <julielj at neb.rr.com>
> > Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Owner training
> >
> > I do, but you already knew that.  Owner training is...not for 
> > everyone,
> but
> > that sounds rather lame.   I think you have to have some very strong
> reasons
> >
> > for wanting to owner train and they really need to be intrinsic.  
> > Anger
> or
> > revenge or proving something to others  isn't enough mental fuel to 
> > carry you through the owner training process.
> >
> > If you'd like to talk feel free to give me a call.  I think you have 
> > my number, but if not send me a private email and I'll send it to 
> > you.  The phone invitation goes out to anyone interested in owner
training.
> >
> > I also host a free conference call every other Saturday and I am 
> > hosting
> a
> > second meet up in Kansas City over Memorial Day weekend.  It's also 
> > free, scholarships are available, to anyone interested in owner 
> > training.  You don't need to be an owner trainer to attend either 
> > the phone conference
> or
> > meet up.   You do need to be an owner trainer in some stage of the
> process
> > to qualify for the scholarship though.  Email me for more info, 
> > julielj at neb.rr.com
> >
> > Julie
> > On The Go with Guide-and-Service-Dogs.com 
> > http://www.guide-and-service-dogs.com
> > also find my products in the Blind Mice Mega Mall <
> https://www.blindmicemegamall.com/bmm/shop/Directory_Departments?store
> id=19
> > 16046>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Jordan Gallacher via NAGDU
> > Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2019 1:42 PM
> > To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> > Cc: Jordan Gallacher
> > Subject: [NAGDU] Owner training
> >
> > Who on here owner trains? Looking into this option since schools se 
> > to
> think
> > my dogs having issues are my fault.
> > Jordan
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
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> >
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