February 7, 2012

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Working Dog Postage Stamps Now Available!

January 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

It’s been a few years since I saw any kind of dogs on stamps.  I don’t really know too much about the history of postage stamps or how they go about choosing who, what, where ends up on a stamp, but I do know that the United States Postal Service has released a set of working dog postage stamps.

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

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:

Dog Postage Stamps

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?

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Therapy Dog Training?

July 1, 2008 By 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 Working HardDerby’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). Stetson Colby and the MatterhornIn 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.

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Assistance Dogs vs. Therapy Dogs – What’s The Difference?

February 19, 2008 By 21 Comments

There is often confusion between Assistance Dogs vs. Therapy Dogs. I’m embarrassed to say that me…your resident expert has gotten them confused in the recent past. In addition you have many other designations including Service Dogs, Hearing Dogs, and Guide Dogs. It can all get a little confusing if you don’t have the exact definition handy. That’s why this article was spawned, to help clarify the differences between these dogs.

What Is An Assistance Dog?

Stetson on the Grass

As defined by Wikipedia – “An assistance dog is a dog trained to help a person with a disability in daily life. Many are trained by a specific organization, while others are trained by their handler (sometimes with the help of a professional trainer)”

These are the three types of assistance dogs:

  • Guide Dog – A guide dogs is trained to assist the blind or visually impaired.
  • Service Dog – ADI Website Definition – ” Service Dogs assist disabled people by retrieving objects that are out of their reach, by pulling wheelchairs, opening and closing doors, turning light switches off and on, barking for alert, finding another person, assisting ambulatory persons to walk by providing balance and counterbalance and many other individual tasks as needed by a disabled person.”
  • Hearing Dog or Signal Dogs – Hearing or Signal Dogs are trained to assist the deaf or hard of hearing.

What Is A Therapy Dog

As defined by Wikipedia – “Therapy Dog refers to a dog trained to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, mental institutions, schools, and stressful situations such as disaster areas.”

What Rights Do These Dogs Have?

Therapy Dogs are not Assistance Dogs. Assistance dogs are used to assist humans and are allowed in most public areas. Assistance Dogs are legally protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. However, Therapy Dogs do not provide direct assistance to humans and are not mentioned in the Americans with Disabilities Act. An institution may invite or prohibit a therapy dog from entering their facilities and usually have rigorous requirements for therapy dogs who are allowed to enter.

Stetson The Guide Dog Puppy In Training

Stetson is my Guide Dogs of America puppy in training. My hope is that Stetson will pass all of his training and be partnered with a blind or vision impaired person as a full fledged guide dog. However, if he does not make it as a guide dog my plan is to certify him as a Therapy dog. I’ve already taken my first step in preparation by working on Stetson’s training and passing the Canine Good Citizen Test. Either way, whether Stetson becomes a Guide Dog, a Therapy Dog, or just a pet I’ll be proud of him.

So to sum up Guide, Service, and Hearing dogs are types of Assistance Dogs and are trained to help people with a disability in daily life. A Therapy dog provides affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes, etc. Assistance Dogs are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act and can go most places the public can go. Therapy Dogs are not protected by any federal laws and must be invited in order to enter an institution.

Hopefully this article helps clarify the difference between Assistance Dogs and Therapy Dogs.

Do you currently own an Assistance or Therapy Dog? Please tell me about your experiences in the comments area.

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Puppy Adoption – So You’d Like To Adopt A Service Dog

December 18, 2007 By 10 Comments

Have you ever thought about Service Dog puppy adoption? I’m sure you’ve seen Service Dogs out on the streets, in your local mall, or maybe the grocery store, but did you know that you can adopt one of these beautiful, well-behaved dogs? Most of this information how to adopt a puppy is based on my experience and knowledge with Guide Dogs of America.

What is a Service Dog?

Puppy In Training

According to the American Disabilities Act (federal) any dog assisting a person with a

disability is considered a service dog (exclusive of therapy dogs). Service dogs are entitled to freely access buildings and transportation (trains, planes, buses). Some of the common

service dogs are:

  1. Dogs for the blind – Often referred to as “Guide Dogs” or “Seeing Eye Dogs”
  2. Hearing and Signal Dogs – Dogs trained to assist deaf people.
  3. Assistance Dogs – A varied category. Dogs will often help by picking things up, open and closing doors, and pulling wheel chairs
  4. Therapy Dogs – Not considered by law as a Service Dog. Therapy dogs visit hospitals, care facilities, nursing homes, etc to cheer up patients. – For the re levance of this article we will not be talking about Therapy Dogs.

How Does A Puppy Go From Puppy To Service Dog?

First, it’s important to understand the process a Service Dog puppy

goes through before achieving the status of Service Dog.

  1. Breeder Dogs are housed by foster families near Service Dog facilities such as Guide Dogs of America in Sylmar, CA.
  2. Breeder Dogs are bred and have litters at the Service Dog facility.
  3. The litter stays at the facility until approximately 7-8 weeks of age.
  4. At 7-8 weeks of age puppies move on to live with individuals and families called puppy raisers.
  5. Puppies are evaluated and learn basic obedience throughout the puppy raising period for approximately 18-22 months.
  6. At 18-22 months the puppies are brought back to the Service Dog facility for formal training.
  7. Puppies attend formal training for 4-6 months. During formal training puppies learn advanced commands specific to the disability they will assist.

This is just a short step-by-step and does not include every detail in a Service Dog Puppy’s training.

How Can I Adopt A Service Dog Puppy?

Service Dog training programs are very rigorous and not all puppies will become Service Dogs. At Guide Dogs of America it is said that approximately 40% of the puppies who start the program will not make it as a Guide Dog. So what happens to the puppies that are career changed (don’t make the guide dog program)? The puppy raiser has the first choice to keep the puppy. If the puppy raiser declines to keep the puppy then the puppy is adopted out. Who gets to adopt the puppy? Currently at Guide Dogs of America there is a 5 year wait list for people interested in adopting a retired or career change guide dog. They are not accepting new applications.

Guide Dogs are not working service dogs their entire lives. Working Guide Dogs can be retired due to health problems or old age. The blind partner has the first option of adopting his/her retired working Guide Dog. The puppy raiser has the second option of adopting the retired Guide Dog. Finally, if neither opt to adopt the dog then the dog is adopted out to a family/individual who applied for puppy/dog adoption.

What about other Service Dog Groups?

There are many other Service Dog groups and their policies and procedures for puppy adoption are probably similar to Guide Dogs of America. However, other groups may be accepting applications for new adoption families. Here are a few groups I’ve come across on the web with headquarters in California:

Guide Dogs of America

Guide Dogs for the Blind

Guide Dogs of the Desert International

Canine Companions for Independence

Are you interested in Service Dog puppy adoption? Have you ever raised a Service Dog puppy or adopted a Service Dog? I’d love to hear what you have to say.

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