[NAGDU] Question Regarding Guide Dog Schools

[mike at michaelhingson.com]

Hi,

You ask some good probing questions. Let me first give you my observations
concerning German Shepherds. I worked for GDB for six and a half years and
found that people who wanted Shepherds were quite strong in their beliefs. I
think there is nothing wrong with this. However, the chief reason that Guide
Dogs for the Blind stopped using German Shepherds was that the breed's
success rate as guides was much lower than breeds like Labradors. As I like
to put it, if you breed all the traits needed to make a shepherd into the
dog you will also by definition breed out many of the traits that make
shepherds the kind of dogs with the personality the breed typically
possesses.

The fact is that some shepherds make excellent guides. Because they are
focused, loyal and love to work. Many Shepherds like much more to herd and
don't possess the characteristics that make them the guides the schools find
to be successful. Even the Seeing Eye, I believe, does not provide the
numbers of German Shepherds they use to provide.

With the above in mind, I urge you to apply to several schools. With the
pandemic in full swing don't make assumptions about which school will and
will not provide in-home training. GDB has, for many years, been the top
school that has led the way in improve scientifically training techniques.
It was the first school to introduce food rewards and clicker training. Both
of these techniques have been and are being adopted by other schools as they
improve the training and speed of training of most guide dogs they produce.
They also were the first, or one of the first, schools to recognize the
lower success rates of German Shepherds. By the way, another issue GDB
noticed was that when a German Shepherd was career changed, the term for
what happens to a dog that the school decides won't make a good guide, GDB
also noticed that the adoption success rate for Shepherds was much lower.
These dogs stayed in kennels longer waiting for adoption. The longer the
dogs had to remain in kennels waiting to find a home, the more anxious and,
yes, aggressive they became. These are facts and not opinions.

Again, apply to several schools. Whether you decide to only apply for
schools in California or not, please remember that as you apply to schools
and those schools respond and decide to interview you, they also must prove
to you that they are the place you want to go. The "interview process" is a
two-way street. Ask all the probing questions you want. Make sure the school
you choose really is the one you think best.

If you want to talk more and want to discuss this off list, you are free to
email me at mike at michaelhingson.com.

I hope this all helps.


Best Regards,


Michael Hingson

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU On Behalf Of Megan Borella via NAGDU
Sent: Sunday, October 25, 2020 1:19 PM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Cc: Megan Borella <meganborella at gmail.com>
Subject: [NAGDU] Question Regarding Guide Dog Schools

Hello,

I am in the process of choosing a guide dog school to apply to in order to
obtain my first guide, and was hoping to receive input from recent graduates
regarding the programs I am considering. I would very much like to work with
a German Shepherd, but have found that options for this breed are more
limited than I had expected. I live in California, and no schools in my
vicinity breed German Shepherds, which is why Fidelco's program caught my
eye. Their in-home training was also of interest to me, as I would prefer to
not have to go to a program in a different state for an extended period of
time.

However, as I have conducted more thorough research, stories I have heard
about Fidelco, its policies, and the quality of the guides it has produced
in the past decade have raised some serious concerns. Does anyone know if
Fidelco has undergone any improvements? Is their program worth applying to?
I also know that the Seeing Eye is another school that specializes in German
Shepherds, although I do not know if they would be willing to conduct
in-home training. Has anyone graduated from their program recently who might
be able to provide feedback?

Finally, I live very near Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc., which I have heard
nothing but wonderful things about. I have visited their campus and adopted
one of their dogs through their career change program, and she could not
have been any better. My only hesitation about applying to their program is
that they do not breed German shepherds. Either way, the quality of the dog
matters to me more than the breed. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether
the quality of the schools that do specialize in German shepherds is high
enough to warrant submitting an application?
Thank you so much,
Megan
_______________________________________________
NAGDU mailing list
NAGDU at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NAGDU:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/mike%40michaelhingson.com