Canadian Guide Dog Postage Stamps

Several years ago our friends, Anne and Jim visited Canada and returned with a special gift for me and the doggies.  I was quite excited to find a set of Canadian Guide Dog Postage Stamps.  They were super cool because not only did the stamps celebrate guide dogs with a picture of a working guide on the stamp, but it also featured Braille on the stamp.  Here’s what the accompanying information pamphlet said about these guide dog postage stamps:

“The Guide Dogs stamp, the first Canadian stamp to feature Braille, is issued on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Montreal Association for the Blind.”

Here’s a picture of the Canadian Stamps:

Guide Dog Postage Stamps From Canada

Sorry for the lousy picture, but the stamps are pretty cool.

USPS Working Dog Postage Stamps

Now back to the aforementioned United States working dog postage stamps.  Here’s what they had to say at the USPS website:

The U.S. Postal Service® celebrates the enduring part­nership between dogs and people with this set of four dif­ferent stamps depicting dogs at work: a guide dog assisting a blind woman; a military dog scouting and track­ing; a therapy dog visiting an elderly woman in her home; and a search and rescue dog in a field, ready to tackle the next assignment. Artist John M. Thompson created original paintings for the stamps, which were designed by art direc­tor Howard E. Paine.

The stamp will go on sale nationwide January 20, 2012.

And here’s a peek at what they look like:

Working Dogs On Postage Stamps

Starting in the upper left hand corner of the image and going clockwise:

1. Guide Dog – I’ve been volunteering at Guide Dogs of America now for over 5 years and I’m hoping my latest guide dog puppy in training, Dublin makes it as a guide…hopefully 3 more months!
2. Therapy Dog – Stetson has already taken his first step towards becoming a therapy dog and passed his Canine Good Citizen test.  I’ve been thinking about getting him involved with the Beach Animals Reading with Kids (BARK) group.
3. Military Dog – The dog in the image is scouting and tracking.  Although we really don’t know too much about military dogs, Stetson has been working on his sniffer dog training at K9 Nosework classes.
4. Search And Rescue Dog – Some of the dogs from our guide dog school career change and become search and rescue dogs.  In fact, one of our good pals, Nicholas is in the middle of search and rescue dog training.  Go Nicholas!

The denominations for these stamps are kind of odd since the typical letter can be sent for 44 cents.  Maybe if you have an over-sized letter you can put these working dog stamps to use.  As for me I think I’ll pick some up at my local post office and put them beside my Canadian guide dog postal stamp.  Hopefully in the coming years we’ll see something in the U.S. like they produced in Canada with Braille on each stamp.

I don’t recall seeing dogs on stamps too often.  What about you?  Are you going to go out and buy some working dog postage stamps?  What do you think about the latest 65 cent stamps?

Post from: Puppy Training

Working Dog Postage Stamps Now Available!

Related posts:

1. Guide Dog Advertising
2. Guide Dogs Of America Graduation

A couple months ago we received a letter in the mail telling us that it was time to bring Dublin back to guide dog school for his formal guide dog training.  Included with that letter was a short questionnaire that we filled out letting the guide dog trainers know a little bit about Dublin, how he did in his dog obedience training classes, and anything that might be helpful during his stay at guide dog college.  Here are the questions and answers we provided.

Dropping Dublin off at Guide Dog School

Puppy Raiser Turn In Questionnaire

Dear Puppy Raisers:

Listed below are some questions that will help the trainers in knowing a little more about your puppy.

Please fill it out to the best of your knowledge and bring it with you to the luncheon.

THANK YOU

Puppy’s Name: Dublin

1. How many family members worked with the puppy?: 1

2. Where does the puppy sleep at night?: Crate next to the bed

Have you ever used a crate?: Yes

3. What are the dogs favorite activities: he likes playing with my o

ther dog Linus or lay quietly chewing on a bone.

4. What is it’s favorite toy?: Kong

5. What reaction does your dog have to loud noises?: Startled or alert and recovers quickly.

Barking dogs?: Alert sometimes excited.

6. Has your dog been exposed to other animals?: Yes, horses, dogs, cats, birds, donkeys, llamas, snakes, lizards.

7. In what kind of neighborhood environment did your puppy grow up? (Sidewalk less areas, livestock areas, high traffic areas): Condo community with sidewalks on a golf course.

8. How is your puppy at being restrained?: excited, but ok.

During Vet exam?: excited, but ok.

While cleaning its ears?: Dublin has had many ear infections and will sit calmly to get his ears cleaned.

While on tie-down: he remains quiet on a tie-down.

9. Any chronic health problems?: Ear infections.

10. Any problem areas?: Over excited on meet and greets.  Mouthy behavior.  Doesn’t like getting his nails trimmed.

11. How much is your dog currently eating?: 1 1/2 cups 2x a day.

What brand of food?: Purina Pro Plan Chicken.

12. Please list anything you would like the trainers to know about your puppy?: He’s still a very mouthy dog mostly licking now.  On a couple occasions with other dogs on outings he’s been very excited and lacked focus, but when we’re not with other dogs on outings he usually does quite well. His obedience is good, but can use work on sit-stays and down-stays.

As I mentioned it’s been a little over a month since Dublin went off to college.  We still haven’t heard anything back from our little puppy in training, but at this point in time they always say that “no news is good news”.

As a puppy raiser for Guide Dogs of America I know we all receive this Puppy Raiser Questionnaire, but how about the other organizations?  Do any of you out their who puppy raise for other guide or service dog organizations receive a similar questionnaire?  Let us know in the comment section below.

Post from: Puppy Training

Puppy Raiser Questionnaire – In For Training

Related posts:

1. Guide Dog Training – How To Become A Guide Dog Puppy Raiser
2. How I Became A Guide Dog Puppy Raiser
3. Formal Guide Dog Training

Well, the time is here, the day you’ve been anticipating since you picked up Dublin all those months ago.  It is now time for Dublin to come in for his formal guide dog training.

We know this is a hard time for you and we would like to try to make it a little easier by inviting you to a Luncheon on October, 29, 2011 at 12:00 noon.

This is just a fun day for you and the other puppy raisers for moral support and to say good-bye to your puppy until Graduation Day.  After we are done eating, talking and playing, we will walk the dogs down to the kennel where you will be able to put them in their runs.

Please give us a call to let us know that you will be attending and how many of you in your group.  If you cannot make it or prefer to bring Dublin in on a different day, please give us a call to let us know when you will be bringing him in.

While he is here, please feel free to call at any time and we will let you know how Dublin is doing in his training.

Enclosed you will find questionnaires to be filled out and brought to the luncheon, along with his Veterinary Medical Records and jacket.  If you would like to bring a toy to share with the others, please do so.  (Hard rubber toys, Kongs, hard bones would be great!)

Again, thank you for all the love, support and a job well done!  If you are thinking about a new puppy, please give me a call — we have PLENTY coming up.

Sincerely,

Guide Dogs of America

Dublin is Going In For Formal Guide Dog Training

So there’s the official letter from Guide Dogs of America we just received.  It’s hard to believe that my little puppy is already going into formal guide dog training.  It seems like not that long ago we were picking him up and putting together his first Puppy In Training TV video.

We still have a few weeks left with Dublin and plan on shooting several more videos and posting several new episodes of Puppy In Training TV during that time.  So stay tuned as we work furiously to get those last few episodes up to YouTube and the website.

As guide dog puppy raisers we always here the question: how do you do it?  meaning how to you let your puppy go?  I have to say it’s very difficult, but at the same time very exciting to see the puppy you raised move on to help someone achieve independence.  While I’m sad to see Dublin leave I’m happy that he will be doing something special for someone else.

Have you turned in a puppy in training to formal training?  If so, tell us about your experience.

Post from: Puppy Training

Formal Guide Dog Training

Related posts:

1. Turn In Your Puppy For Formal Training
2. Guide Dog Obedience Training
3. Guide Dog Puppy Evaluation – Dublin

“National Guide Dog Month is a celebration of the work of Guide Dogs in the United States as a way to raise awareness, appreciation and support for guide dog schools across the United States. It was established in 2008 as a fundraising drive to benefit non-profit guide dog organizations accredited by the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF).”

National Guide Dog Month

Dublin A Puppy In Training

As many of you long time readers know we’ve been raising guide dog puppies for the past 5 years and we’ve also been doing our best to raise awareness for guide dogs as well as share our journey as puppy raisers.  Our goal with our blog is not only to raise awareness and support for guide dogs and puppy raisers, but to also share our experiences and try and help our readers learn more about how to train a puppy.

So why all of a sudden are we adding a post about National Guide Dog Month?  Well, it all starts with my trip to Petco…

Petco Supports Guide Dogs

A couple days ago we visited our local Petco to pickup some dog food and poop bags for the boys (Linus, Stetson, and Dublin).  We were at the cashier making our purchase when our the Petco employee asked if we’d like to round our purchase up to the nearest dollar as a donation to guide dog organizations.  Wow!  I thought that was pretty cool and when I got home I put a little research into Petco’s support of Guide Dogs.  I also tweeted our experience and wrote a short status update on our facebook account.

Here’s some interesting information from the Petco website:

Petco and Natural Balance have teamed up with CSI:Miami’s Eva La Rue and Omar Miller to support Guide Dog organizations.

Did you know that there are 1.3 million blind people in the USA? Every 7 minutes someone in America becomes visually impaired.

Guide Dogs improve the lives of the visually impaired by creating opportunities for life-changing independence and through community outreach and education programs. Guide Dogs provide safe mobility, loving companionship and the “miracle of independence” to the visually impaired.

Unfortunately, the guide dog organization we volunteer for, Guide Dogs of America is not on the list of schools receiving donations this year.  However, we do appreciate the support Petco is putting forth to help Guide Dog organizations.  Thanks Petco!

What are you doing for National Guide Dog Month? Have you visited your local Petco this month?  Did they ask you for a donation for guide dog organizations?

Post from: Puppy Training

National Guide Dog Month

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1. Today Is National Puppy Day!
2. National Dog Day!
3. National Assistance Dog Week

At the beginning of 2006 it was just myself and my rescue dog Linus at the house, little did I know that by the end of the year I would have not only fostered 10+ dogs and puppies from the local shelter, but I’d also embark on the journey of a Guide Dog Puppy Raiser!  If you haven’t had a chance you might want to check out our last article on How I Became A Guide Dog Puppy Raiser.

Are You Interested In Becoming A Guide Dog Puppy Raiser?

I’m currently raising my third puppy, Dublin for Guide Dogs of America and I’ve been doing my best to help out with the puppy raising program whenever needed.  Recently I was asked to put together a flyer with information about our local Orange County Guide Dogs of America (OCGDA) group.  Take a look:

In case you were wondering: Stetson (my first GDA pup) is in the picture along the heading.  He’s actually the smear of black pixels at the far right.  Future Guide Dogs: Baron is the yellow in the first circle, Yuki is the black Lab in the middle, and that’s Dublin (my third GDA pup) on the far right.

It’s been nearly five years since I started raising my first Guide Dog puppy for Guide Dogs of America (GDA) and I just wanted to put together some helpful hints on how if you’re interested, you can become the next Guide Dog Puppy Raiser for GDA.

Step-by-Step How To Become A Guide Dog Puppy Raiser

This is applicable to Guide Dogs of America and the process while probably very similar is probably slightly different for every guide and service dog organization.

1. Before we start raisers must live in the Southern or Central California area. Some parts of Washington can also Puppy Raise for Guide Dogs of America.
2. Visit the Guide Dogs of America Website and read as much information as possible about the entire organization.
3. After reading through as much of the GDA website as possible if you’re still interested in Puppy Raising fill out the puppy raiser application.
4. It can take a while before you get your home interview.  At this point you play the waiting game (I waited nearly 3 months and nearly gave up hope), but I’d suggest you look into attending your area group meetings and outings before your home interview.  Participation and involvement is a big part of the puppy raising program.
5. Go to the Classes, Meetings, and Events Page.
6. Find out which meeting site is closest to your home.
7. Contact the Area Leader by phone or email and let them know you’d like to attend meetings.

Once you start attending meetings you’ll have the opportunity to meet other puppy raisers, attend puppy outings and trainings, and ask questions.  As puppy raisers, one of the coolest (and one of our favorite) parts about raising a Guide Dog puppy is that you have the opportunity to take your puppy most places that the public can go including into grocery stores, movie theaters, shopping malls, and to the office at work (I made sure to get permission from my boss first).  Here’s a video we put together showing some of Dublin’s first days at our office:

If you’d like to be alerted to Dublin’s future Puppy In Training TV episodes then you can follow our Blog, YouTube Channel, Facebook page, or our Twitter account.

I hope this short step-by-step guide helped you learn a little bit about becoming a guide dog puppy raiser.  Of course if you’re interested in becoming a guide dog puppy raisers for Guide Dogs of America and you still have questions please feel free to leave me a comment in the comment section below or send a message through our contact form.

Post from: Puppy Training

Are You Interested In Becoming A Guide Dog Puppy Raiser?

Related posts:

1. How I Became A Guide Dog Puppy Raiser
2. Top 5 Questions People Ask A Guide Dog Puppy Raiser
3. Guide Dog Training – How To Become A Guide Dog Puppy Raiser

In the past I had volunteered for many other organizations, but now I wanted to do something to help out people and animals. The number 1 and number 2 volunteer activities on my list were:

1. Fostering Dogs and Puppies
2. Guide Dog Puppy Raiser

Here’s how we went from volunteering for organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Special Olympics to Fostering Dogs and Puppies to finally becoming Guide Dog Puppy Raisers!

Fostering Dogs And Puppies

As I mentioned earlier I was interested in volunteering my time helping both people and animals. Back in 2006 I had recently volunteered to help put up dry wall at one of the local habit for humanity homes and while it was/is very fulfilling to help out others by building a home I wanted to do something that involved helping out both people and animals.

A few weeks after putting up drywall for Habitat for Humanity I attended the OC Pet Expo which is held every year in April at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA about 15 minutes from my house. I spoke with many of the volunteers at various organizations and decided that I either wanted to volunteer as a foster parent for dogs and puppies or as a Guide Dog Puppy Raiser.

Becoming a Guide Dog Puppy Raiser was a long term commitment. Most organizations required you to raise a puppy from approximately 7 weeks of age until they were 18 months old…that’s nearly 1 1/2 years!!! However, fostering was much more short term and usually lasted until your foster puppy was adopted. I therefore opted to try fostering with a local rescue called Cuddly Canines. We had the opportunity to rescue and adopt out two litters of puppies and a 4 year old purebred long haired German Shepherd. Here’s a picture of the German Shepherd puppies we rescued:

I really enjoyed fostering puppies. Out of the twelve puppies and dogs we fostered the shortest stay in our home was 2 weeks and the longest stay was 3 months. However, I have heard that some dogs and puppies can end up at your home for much longer than 3 months.

Guide Dog Puppy Raisers

I really enjoyed fostering puppies however, I wanted to give Guide Dog Puppy Raising a try. I knew the commitment would be much longer then fostering, but the thought of helping raise, train, and socialize a puppy to become a working guide dog for someone in need sounded like an amazing way to spend my free time.

So I went ahead and submitted my application to the three local guide dog organizations with groups located in Southern California: Guide Dogs of America, Guide Dogs for the Blind, and Guide Dogs of the Desert.

Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) – GDB was the first organization to contact me. I spoke with two of GDB’s group leaders and also attended several meetings and outings. I was very much on the verge of joining GDB as a puppy raiser.

Guide Dogs of America (GDA) – I submitted my application to GDA in October, I called the puppy department three times, and I emailed them several times. I was very persistent, but I nearly gave up on GDA until late December when I was finally scheduled for a home interview.

Guide Dogs of the Desert (GDD) – I submitted my application and emailed them several times, but never heard back from them.

I know all of these organizations are very busy so I don’t fault any of them when it takes a little time to get back in touch. Guide Dogs for the Blind was by far the fastest and most responsive of the three organizations. However, after attending several group meetings I felt like I was lost amongst a large group and had some difficulty making a connection. As I mentioned Guide Dogs for the Desert never got back in touch with me after I sent my application so I really can’t comment on their group meetings or activities. Finally, after waiting nearly 3 months I had the opportunity to speak with the Orange County Guide Dogs of America (OCGDA) Group leader on the phone and then during our home interview. After speaking to Tammy and attending several group meetings I really enjoyed the smaller more personable Orange County Guide Dog Puppy Raising group. I went ahead and decided that the Orange County Guide Dogs of America Puppy Raising Group was the group for me.

I’m currently raising my third guide dog puppy in training for Guide Dogs of America and I’ve been documenting most of their activities on this blog since 2007. We also started a YouTube Channel to document our current pup, Dublin’s adventures as a Guide Dog Puppy. Here’s the first episode:

If you’d like to be alerted to Dublin’s future Puppy In Training TV episodes then you can follow our Blog, YouTube Channel, Facebook page, or our Twitter account.

So that’s how I became a Guide Dog Puppy Raiser!  Are you interested in becoming a Guide Dog Puppy Raiser too?  If so, then make sure you come back tomorrow and find out how you can become a guide dog puppy raiser for Guide Dogs of America.

Post from: Puppy Training

How I Became A Guide Dog Puppy Raiser

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1. Guide Dog Training – How To Become A Guide Dog Puppy Raiser
2. Interview A Guide Dog Puppy Raiser
3. Top 5 Questions People Ask A Guide Dog Puppy Raiser

Our black Labrador Retriever, Stetson is a career changed Guide Dog and we’ve been trying to find something for him to do ever since he was dropped from the guide dog program.  We’ve looked into Therapy Dog Training (we’re still interested), Surf Dog Training, Dog Obedience Training, Agility Training (Stetson is not too coordinated), Rally Training, Splash Dog Training (Stetson doesn’t like the water), and now we’re looking into sniffer dog training!  After all we did give Stetson the nickname “Mr. Sniffers” well before we even heard about K9 Nosework Training.

In fact, we’re not just looking into having Stetson join the elite group of Sniffer Dogs, but we’ve already got him involved in his first few canine nosework training classes.  If you’ve been following us on facebook or twitter then you may have already seen some of our short tweets or images about Stetson’s sniffer dog training classes.

We recently started our fourth sniffer dog training class (K9 Nosework) and we’re finally seeing some progress out of Stetson.  So we decided to do some more research on the different kind of careers available to the elite sniffer dogs on the planet.

Sniffer Dogs

• Bed Bug Sniffing Dogs – with the recent outbreak of bed bugs we’ve heard more and more about bed bug sniffing dogs on the news.  One of our guide dog puppy raising friends even ran into a bed bug sniffing team while staying in a hotel in Las Vegas.  We had a little discussion about it on our facebook fanpage and we were excited about the future of our small group of sniffer dogs in training.
• Bomb Sniffing Dogs – we’ve also heard the term Explosive Detection Dogs.  We recently came across a sad story about a bomb sniffing dog team.  First the soldier was shot down by a sniper and later in the day his bomb sniffing partner died from a seizure brought on by the tragedy of the events.  For more information on this said story check out the video.
• Drug Detection Dogs – Probably the first thing we think of when we think of drug detection dogs are those big K9 german shepherd police dogs.  Drug Detection Dog publicity:  We recently saw an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where a drug detection dog detects marijuana in Larry David’s coat.
• Seizure Detection Dogs – We recently saw a TV show that highlighted Seizure Detection Dogs.  In the program we watched a person with epileptic seizures had a personal pet dog that unknowlingly would detect her seizures before they would happen.  Her owner noticed the behavior and had a professional service dog trainer work with her pet dog to sharpen the skills and become a certified service (seizure detection) dog.
• Arson Dogs – way back when Stetson was a guide dog puppy in training we met an Arson Dog at our OCGDA group meeting.  His name was Denali and he was a career changed guide dog.  He happily worked with the fire department as an Arson Dog detecting accelerants at fire scenes.  In fact we recently heard that Denali will be visiting us again at our upcoming OCGDA meeting.  Here’s the article we wrote about Denali and Arson Dogs.
• Cancer Sniffing Dogs – While watching TV we came across a program that talked a little bit about dogs that could detect cancer.  In the program they showed how they work with the cancer sniffing dogs and a spinning wheel that looks something like a lazy susan.  We saw a similar device when we were visited by the two Arson Dogs, Denali and Gator.
• DVD Sniffing Dogs – We’ve even heard of DVD Sniffing Dogs and wrote a short article about them.  It’s hard to imagine that a dog’s nose is sensitive enough to hunt down illegal DVD’s!

That is just a short list of sniffer dogs we’ve heard of during our short time working with Stetson and the K9 Nosework team at Wags n Wiggles in Tustin.  We’re sure their are at least a dozen or more other sniffer dog careers available to dogs who excel at this discipline.

Stetson and I take sniffer dog training classes just for fun, but who nose (pun intended) maybe Stetson will someday become one of the elite Sniffer Dogs in Orange County and we can say he has career changed from guide dog puppy in training to Sniffer Dog!

Does your dog like to use his nose?  Maybe sniffer dog training is in your future.

Post from: Puppy Training

Sniffer Dogs

Related posts:

1. Arson Dogs – A Detection Dog Demonstration
2. Drug Sniffing Dogs And…DVD Sniffing Dogs?
3. Guide Dogs of America Puppy Evaluation

Not too long ago Dublin received his six month puppy evaluation from the Guide Dogs of America school in Sylmar, CA.  When puppy sitter’s watch your pup they also fill out a short puppy sitting report.  The GDA Puppy Sitting Report is great because it helps to show how your pup is progressing – the good and the bad.

Puppy Sitting Report

Here’s a copy of Dublin’s Puppy Sitting Report:

Puppy Name: Dublin

Puppy’s Age: almost 7 months

List any other animals you have in your home or encountered during the puppy’s stay: Austin (golden puppy), Christy (breeder), 2 Boston Terriers, Catlin (Puppy In Training)

What was the puppy’s reaction and how did he or she interact with those animals? Dublin reacted appropriately – excited and exuberant, but not out of control.

How did the puppy interact with other people such as elderly people and children? There were lots of elderly people in the audience who greeted Dublin.  We worked on calm greetings.  A bit “mouthy”

Where did you take the puppy? Dinner at Red Robins.  Young Americans Christmas Show

The puppy’s overall behavior during the stay was: excellent.

What are the most positive traits/behaviors of the puppy? He’s adorable and wants to please

Do you have any concerns regarding the puppy’s behavior? none.  He has a great puppy raiser and is a normal 7 month old puppy.

Check the commands the puppy knows: His/Her Name – X, Sit – X immediate, Down – X, Here – , All in progress (Come - X, Stay – X, Heel – X, Walking on loose leash – X)

How are the coat, skin, nails and weight?  How is the puppy’s general health?

How much is the puppy fed? 2 cups / 2x a day

Comments: Thanks for letting us borrow Dublin.  He’s a great dog and handled several strange/new situations well

Dublin’s Evaluation

We’re very proud of Dublin and his Puppy Sitting Report.  As they said on the report “He’s adorable and wants to please”.  We agree!  We also had the chance to speak to Dublin’s puppy sitters.  He is over exuberant when meeting new people and dogs, hes “a bit mouthy”, he played nice with the other dogs at their house, he handled new situations well.  One funny thing we did notice was that for the command “Sit” it said “immediate”.  We’ve noticed that Dublin does put his butt to the ground quickly when we say “sit”.  We haven’t done anything different with his training.  We think it’s just one of those commands he’s learned to respond to in a hurry.

I’m glad Dublin had a chance to stay with another family, work with different handlers, and situations.  I’m sure it will help him become a better guide dog in the future.

Do you ever have puppy sitters watch your puppies or dogs?  If so, do they fill out a puppy sitter report?

Thanks to the Guske family for taking Dublin for taking Dublin to Red Robin’s and the Young American’s Christmas show.

Post from: Puppy Training

Puppy Sitting Report For Dublin

Related posts:

1. Guide Dog Puppy Evaluation – Dublin
2. Puppy In Training Progress Report
3. How To Teach Your Puppy His Name

Guide Dog Puppy Evaluation

The first few things are basic:

Dog’s Name: Dublin
Breed: YLAB
Sex: Male
Intact: Yes
Proper Tags (3): Yes
Dog’s current age: 6 mos

Kennel Behavior:

• In Run: Calm, Happy
• Overall behavior: Well-behaved
• Community Run: N/A

Basic Handling / Grooming: (ears, eyes, teeth, paws, tail): Excellent

• Overall Appearance: Good

Relieving on leash: on command

Evaluation Walk in Unfamiliar Area:

• Location: Valencia
• Response to people: friendly-interested
• Other dogs: interested-walks by
• Animals (birds, squirrels, etc.): ignored birds
• Loud sounds: not bothered
• Traffic: not bothered
• New Handler: very responsive – eager to please
• Other (stairs, kids, sniffing, etc.): no pulling, loose lead, some concern with people  walking up behind him, recovered quickly

OB response:

• Name: Very Good
• Sit: Excellent
• Stay: Excellent
• Down: Excellent
• Come: Excellent

General Handling:

• Energy Level: medium
• Response to correction: responds well – remembers
• Behavior in establishments: polite, well-behaved
• Overall stress: did not seem stressed today

Comments / Recommendations:

Dublin is a pleasure to walk.  He walks nicely on a loose leash and is very responsive to handler.  Dublin has excellent manners and a great obedience foundation.  Overall, Dublin was not bothered by any situation he encountered.  However, he did become concerned when approached from behind by a woman talking on a cell phone.  He startled and became distracted bu recovered quickly after she passed by.  Continue to expose Dublin to new experiences including crowds.

Keep up the Great Work!

Recommend Re-evaluation: 3 months

My Thoughts On Dublin’s Evaluation

Dublin does a lot of things very well and his puppy evaluation made me proud…I’m a happy parent   Here are a few things I though after reading this report:

I left a couple things out including Date, DOB, ID#, and Evaluator.  As I mentioned most of this stuff is very basic, but a few things to note are:  He is still intact – I guess that won’t change until his next evaluation so he gets to keep his man parts for a little while longer.  Proper Tags – He has his Microchip Tag, GDA Tag, and a Personal Tag with my information I have not yet received his Irvine City Registration tag, but should have that soon.

Although it was his first stay at the GDA kennels his behavior report does not surprise me.  He’s a happy go lucky dog and has always got along with other puppies from his group.  Also he’s always done very well with his crate training.

We’ve been working on basic handling with Dublin including petting, manipulating and dressing him in dog costumes since we first brought him home.   We even put together a puppy training video showing Dublin and some of the other puppies in training wearing their Halloween dog costumes and explaining the purpose behind puppy dress-ups.

The part of Dublin’s evaluation that did surprise me was his response to people and other dogs.  He generally ignores people unless they are coming up to say hello.  In that case he gets super excited for about 10-30 seconds and takes a little bit before he calms down.  Meet and greets with people is one area we’ve been working on nearly every day.  By the way, we had Baron for a few days and he is great with his meet and greets.  Also, if we get close to other dogs Dublin will pull and want to go play.  This is another area we’re working on.

Finally, Dublin is great with most of his Puppy obedience training.  However, the past couple weeks he has regressed with his Name and the “Come” command.  We’ve gone back to working with him on a long line to increase his responsiveness.

3 Months Till Dublin’s Next Puppy Eval

As I mentioned earlier there was no mention of…shhhh…neutering…so I assume Dublin gets to keep his man parts for another 3 months till his next puppy evaluation.  Until then we’ll keep working on Dublin’s puppy training.

I just looked back at  Stetson’s Puppy Evaluation and guess what?  One thing I noted was that he was really bad with his sniffing (not allowed for a guide dog).  What are we doing with Stetson today?  K9 Nose Work Training!!!

Are you raising a puppy for Guide Dogs of America?  If so, we’d love to hear about your Guide Dog puppy evaluation.  Are you a puppy raiser for another organization?  If so, I’d love to hear about your programs puppy evaluation process.

Post from: Puppy Training

Guide Dog Puppy Evaluation – Dublin

Related posts:

1. Guide Dogs of America Puppy Evaluation
2. Guide Dog Obedience Training
3. Puppy In Training Timeline Part 4

9:00 – 10:00am – 12 months and over
10:30 – 11:30am – 5 months – 12 months
12:00 – 1:00pm – 7 weeks – 5 months
1:30 – 2:30pm – Breeder Stock Only

Sorry we didn’t get any puppy training videos with Dublin at GDA Obedience.

Guide Dog Obedience Training

Today at GDA Puppy Obedience training there were three obedience stations.

STATION 1: Recall under blindfold while your puppy is playing.  We took Dublin in to an enclosed play area, I put on a blindfold and had three chances to get him to come to me by calling his name. After calling his name the first time I could hear him sprinting back and forth with puppy zoomie energy (seemed hopeless for us).  The second time I called “Dublin, Come”…nothing.  The third time I called his name I happened to stick my arm out and catch him as he was zooming by…does that count??? Nope! -FAIL!

STATION 2: Recall on a long line with distractions.  We lined up four puppies on long lines, put them in a sit-stay, and walked to the end of the lines. We called each puppy individually. If you didn’t call your puppy he was to remain in a sit-stay. He wasn’t perfect, but Dublin held a sit-stay twice when all the other dogs broke their sit-stay. Good job Dublin! -PASS!

STATION 3: Feed your puppy with a blindfold. Four of us stood three feet from a table that had dog bowls and kibble. We put our puppies in a sit-stay, put on our blind folds, walked to the table grabbed a bowl a handful of kibble, and our pups were to remain in a sit-stay until we released them. Dublin did perfect w/ me, but then we traded dogs and I could hear his new handler struggling a little to keep him in a sit-stay. -SEMI-PASS?

What Dublin Learned In Puppy Training

This was Dublin’s first class in the 5-12 month puppy age bracket and I thought he did excellent.  GDA Dog Obedience Training also gave Dublin and I an idea about some of the things we need to work on.

At Station 1 we learned that we need to work on recalls when Dublin is playing in new areas.  Dublin is excellent with his recall when their are no distractions in our house and at my office at work.  However, we have not practiced in new areas, with new smells, and toy distractions.

At Station 2 we learned that recalls on a long lines are much different when there are puppy distractions.  Once one puppy starts running the others often follow.  This is another area we need to work on.

At Station 3 we learned that it’s important for Dublin to follow commands from others.  This station showed us that not only do we need to work with Dublin and his training, but it’s also important to have others work with Dublin and his puppy training as well.

Guide Dog Obedience Training at GDA was a great experience for both Dublin and I.  We learned a lot and it gives us a chance to work on some of our short comings.  We also had the opportunity to see some of Dublin’s siblings and learn how they are progressing.  Overall it was a great day and we hope to attend the next puppy obedience training next month.

If you want to see the schedule for upcoming GDA Obedience Classes then visit the Puppy Raising Events page on the GDA website and scroll to the bottom of the page.

How about you?  Have you ever attended Guide Dog Obedience Training at Guide Dogs of America in Sylmar, California?  If you have we’d love to hear your thoughts.

Post from: Puppy Training

Guide Dog Obedience Training

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