Formal Guide Dog Training
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Dear Colby,
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.
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@Charlotte, thanks! That was the first video in our Puppy In Training TV series. If you want to check out some of the others visit: https://puppyintraining.com/puppyintrainingtv/
That’s a great video! The puppy is so cute! These tips are really useful.
@Kaylyn very well put. As you said it’s a win-win-win situation. Although I know I’ll be very sad this Oct 29th they will be happy tears 🙂
I turned in my first puppy this past January (started college this August, which is why I didn’t immediately take a new one – want to transition first). It was hard, but I had just lost an animal that was very close to my heart a few months before I got my first puppy. The whole time I told myself that she was only with me for a year and to not get too attached and see her like a pet. For the most part, I followed that. But I still got attached. It’s too hard not to. When we go the letter I remembered why I did this. I wanted to help someone, and no matter how it ended – graduating or not – I was going to be happy. If she graduated, she would be someone’s eyes. If she didn’t and her breeder took her back, she’d produce puppies that would be someone;s eyes so she’d still be helping. If she came back to us, I’d be happy to see her that way too. Either way, it was a win-win-win situation, even though for them moment it was sad. So yes, I cried a bit when we left without her (my mom cried more than me, which was surprising), but I don’t think I’ve cried happier tears the day I found out she graduated as a guide. Yeah, I miss her, but she had the attitude of a working dog and I don’t think she’d be happier than where she is now. Like I said, it was a win-win-win situation.