| PeppyGPhiB |
08-28-2009 07:14 PM |
OK, I have raised three dogs for Canine Companions for Independence, the largest non-sight service dog organization. I can tell you for a fact that...
- Reputable service dog organizations do not release five-week-old puppies to puppy raisers. That is too young for them to be taken away from their mom and littermates. CCI turns over puppies at 8 weeks of age.
- All service dog organizations I know (CCI, Guide Dogs for the Blind, The Seeing Eye) have official vests their puppies in training must wear. Usually they're a different color than the graduate dogs. For example, CCI's puppy vests are yellow; graduates wear blue vests. There is also a patch on the vest that usually reads something like "assistance dog in training."
- A reputable service dog organization interviews each potential puppy raiser and performs a home visit of where the puppy will be raised. In CCI, if you have a yard it must be fenced, though you do not have to have a yard to get a dog. If you don't have a yard, you must commit to taking the dog on good walks and toileting it on leash always. After all, not every graduate dog will go to someone living in a house with a yard; some go to people who live in apartments or condos and therefore all dogs must get used to exercising on leash and toileting on leash.
I know of one young lady in our puppy raising club who took a puppy about a year old to college with her. She had been training him since he was 8 weeks old, and she had raised a puppy in high school who went on to graduate. She also did 4-H and was extremely responsible. She did not live in a sorority house, but the dog was permitted to live in the dorm with her.
- No organization I know of uses pit bulls as service dogs in training. They are simply too aggressive. A service dog must be confident but very at ease with following direction from its handler, and must never growl, bark or show any signs of distraction or aggression toward other dogs or people. Particularly children. I know of no organization that would ever train a pit bull. Most use labs, golden retrievers, standard poodles, german shephards, belgian tervurens, labradoodles/golendoodles. Hearing dog organizations may use these dogs but also use corgis, as corgis are herding dogs with very confident/stubborn personalities. All of the big service dog organizations have their own breeding programs, and I'm telling you they do not breed pit bulls. There are a few small organizations that I think use pound dogs or donations, but if they accept a pit bull into the program I promise you it is not a reputable or large organization.
- If the dog was a service dog being used for a disability - and btw she would not need paperwork in order to prove to you it was a "real" service dog - it would be illegal for you to keep the dog out of the house. Against Americans with Disabilities Act. But there is no such law protecting service animals in training; you do not HAVE to allow a service dog in training into any facility. It's for that reason I HATE chicks like this one who ruin the training opportunities for LEGITIMATE service dogs in training who do need to learn to go places like the supermarket, a movie theatre, church, and anywhere else where people go. We rely on the kindness and understanding of the owners/managers of properties to allow us to bring our dog in, and we are on our best manners when we go into such places. People who claim their tiny dog with a homemade vest as a service dog just so he can fly on airplanes with them, or a woman who thinks it's ok for her to bring her dog into the grocery store just because it can fit in her purse, also piss me off.
- If this was a real service dog in training, she likely wouldn't have any official "documentation" other than a contract. People used to ask me to show my documentation when I was out and about with my CCI puppies, and I had to tell them I didn't have any. Um, the perfectly behaved dog and the very official vest were my documentation. I don't carry contracts around with me.
I encourage you to question this young lady, because I think she's full of BS. And if it does turn out she's full of it, give her a smack on the behind for me and tell her those of us who REALLY go through the tremendous effort to raise service dogs don't appreciate efforts like hers.
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