2008 July | Puppy In Training

Canine Support Teams

July 14, 2008 By Colby 6 Comments

One of the great things about being a part of Guide Dogs of America is having access to a vast amount of puppy/dog knowledge. There are so many knowledgeable people in our Orange County Guide Dogs of America group that anytime I have a puppy/dog question I can just talk to people at our group meeting and I always get great and informed answers. Some of the people in our group have raised 10+ GDA puppies!

Stetson’s Career Change

When a guide dog puppy in training gets dropped from the guide dog program they are said to be “career changed”. When I received the call that Stetson was going to be career changed I was taken by surprise, but I always wanted to get Stetson involved as a Therapy dog if he didn’t make it as a Guide dog.

However, there are many other options for your puppy if they do not make it as a Guide dog. One of our GDA group members mentioned to me that Stetson could enter another program called Canine Support Teams.

Here’s a photo of Stetson and Derby under my desk at the office. It looks like Stetson’s enjoying his interim career of sleeping under my desk…Derby likes wedging his head between things when he goes to sleep.

Canine Support Teams

If Stetson were to enter the Canine Support Teams program he could become a service dog for the disabled. He would be trained by either their staff or through their Prison Pup program which serves a dual purpose in rehabilitating a human as well as servicing a human.

Here’s a little excerpt from the Canine Support Teams About page:

Service dogs are placed with people who use wheelchairs, walkers, crutches or canes. They are taught to assist their partners by pulling manual wheelchairs, turning lights on and off, pushing elevator buttons, retrieving dropped or hard to reach items, making purchases or banking transactions, opening and closing doors and drawers, barking to get help and providing stability for walking. In addition, these dogs help to serve as an ice-breaker in public situations and provide constant companionship for their partners. Assisted Service work for individuals who can manage their dogs with help from another person, caregiver or attendant. Assisted Service have all the skills associated with Service Dogs.

Prison Pup Program

The Canine Support Team Prison Pup Program sounded very interesting to me so I took a look at their website. The partnership was formed with the California Institution for women to help inmates contribute to society and to provide more service dogs for people in need.

During the Prison Pup Program Canine Support Teams hold puppy class weekly. During class the instructors work with the inmates on:

General obedience
Advanced task work and training techniques

Some inmates are selected for special duties such as:

First aid
Grooming
Mentorship based on their special talents and dedication in class.

Stetson’s Career Change

My goal for Stetson remains the same. Now that he will not be a guide dog I want to get him involved as a Therapy Dog. Unfortunately, at our last group meeting I did not get a chance to talk to other’s in our group about their therapy dogs.

We have more information about career change opportunities listed on the Orange County Guide Dogs of America website. If you are interested in Canine Support Teams please visit their website at http://www.caninesupporteams.org.

Life Of A Puppy In Training

July 13, 2008 By Colby 1 Comment

Sorry everyone it’s been a while since my last post. I do have excuses though.

I’ve been on vacation.
My new puppy in training, Derby has been a handful.
I was contracted to design/develop a website: Personal Plant Service.
I’m working on redesigning the Puppy In Training website.

I’m getting back on track this week and plan on writing about the trials and tribulations of raising a young puppy…believe me it’s both fun and frustrating.

Filed Under: Working Dog Tagged With: Derby, Puppy In Training

Therapy Dog Training?

July 1, 2008 By Colby 8 Comments

A lot has happened the last few days/weeks in my puppy training life. Exactly two weeks ago I received a call from our Orange County GDA group leader asking me if I’d like to puppy raise another Guide Dog. I was a little hesitant, but excited at the same time. If you’ve been following my blog then you know I decided to raise Derby from the “D” litter and picked him up last Friday.

Derby’s been great since I picked him up. The last couple days he’s done really well at my office (and of course he’s a hit with all of the employees). He also sleeps through most of the night (exact opposite of Stetson)…a few whines and moans here and there, but usually he falls asleep very quickly. He does really well at “table up”, is starting to wait at doorways, and has actually gone over to and waited at the back door to go outside twice already. YAY FOR DERBY!

Stetson Career Changed

Just this afternoon I found out that Stetson has been career changed. I was caught totally by surprise…I worked really hard with Stetson and thought he had many great qualities that would help him become an excellent Guide Dog. I was so overwhelmed when I received the call I was pretty much tongue tied. I have several questions I’d like to ask our puppy manager Louise to try and find out exactly what went wrong with Stetson. Did he really not want to work as a Guide Dog?

I do have mixed emotions about Stetson not making it as a guide dog. I was really looking forward to his graduation and meeting his blind partner. I was excited that he was going to help someone get around in their daily lives and be a constant companion. I had dreams of him doing great things in his life…the good thing is we had a back up plan and Stetson will still get a chance to use his training and help people.

Stetson The Therapy Dog

Stetson the Therapy Dog has a nice ring to it! I always wanted to train Stetson best I could. We attended every training class offered by Tammy (Puppy Kindergarten) and Ramona (Basic Obedience). In total Stetson finished 2 puppy kindergarten classes and 4 basic obedience classes. Stetson and his buddy Dustin both received their Canine Good Citizen Certificate back in February. All of this training including the socialization Stetson has gone through makes him a perfect candidate as a therapy dog.

Our group meeting a couple months back focused on what to do if your dog is career changed. One of the options from this meeting was therapy dog training. I learned a couple important points:

There are different therapy dog programs – depending on where you and your dog would like to visit might determine what program you should get involved with.
READ – a program where kids read to your dog.

There’s additional information on our Orange County GDA group website on career change opportunities including therapy dog certification. Several of the dogs in our group already have their therapy dog certification and over the next couple weeks I’ll try and find out which certification will best suit Stetson. So…the journey continues for Stetson!

In a couple weeks time I went from a one dog household to a three dog household. Tomorrow I’m going back to Sylmar to pick up Stetson and while I’m sad he’s not making it as a guide dog I’m happy to have him back home.

Filed Under: Therapy Dogs Tagged With: Derby, Stetson, Therapy Dogs