I have permission from this breeder to cross post. The owners names and the states have been changed.
In May I donated a young chocolate lab male to a non-profit
organization that trains service dogs for autistic children as well
as seizure alert dogs. I bred this dog, trained this dog, got his
CGC, TDI certification, micro-chipped him (as I do with all my pups)
and made sure he was current on all shots. This dog was great with
children, tuned into them and responded well to their direction and
ignored any and all inappropriate actions toward him (not that I
condone this, but in the real world, it happens) and my kids could
walk him on lead without any issues, he maneuvered through medical
equipment without a second glance, and was all around a great dog at
20 months.
Anyway, I felt that he had a greater calling then family pet with an
occasional Therapy visit under his belt and when a family called me
to see if I had a dog that might be appropriate for training as a
service dog for their autistic dog, I mentioned [Dog]. I also told
them that, while he was well behaved and that I had done the CGC and
TDI, I did not train service dogs and he would need to find a trainer
for him.
They found a trainer a couple of counties away and she came to see if
she thought [Dog] would fit the bill as a service dog. This woman
presented herself in a very knowledgeable manner and was all about
the dog and how he was going to be such a good service dog, blah,
blah, blah and she took [Dog]. We knew he had some initial shyness to
strange places and people, he's not one of those labs that thinks
everyone is his friend, and wants to size the situation up first so
we were concerned about hooking him up with the child that we
initially sent [Dog] for but, because he was donated for that family,
the family would not be charged for a different dog, just the
training. This little boy had quite a few more problems then just
autism and had to travel to [Far Away City in USA] several times a month for
doctor visits and treatment. It was deemed that [Dog] would not be
suited for him but was definitely going to work for someone a little
older.
Present
A week ago, I got a call from a woman in [Far Away State in USA] who said she
had a dog that had been turned into a shelter with all his paperwork
and she wanted to get him registered to them. First, I mentioned all
my dogs and puppies are chipped to me so I should have gotten a call
if one of my dogs ended up in a shelter so I was just floored by that
and then she told me it was [Dog]! I had to get off the phone to
process that information and compose myself because my heart broke
right then!
I called her back and got the rest of the story. [Dog] did, in fact,
go to a child that has epileptic seizures and they couldn't be
happier with him. However, the trainer told these people that she
got [Dog] from a shelter that someone had turned him in with all his
papers and she didn't know why. This upset me because we were doing
a good deed and I do everything possible to ensure that my pups DO
NOT end up in shelter by micro-chipping and a return clause in the
contract.
Then, I get more of the story. Apparently [Dog] has received no
training other then the training he got while he was here. I have
seen that the trainer is taking credit for his CGC and TDI certs.
[Dog] is showing some behaviors that he never had here such as
growling at other dogs. He was raised in a doggie day care
environment, he played with every type of dog with no problems,
ever. I don't think in the entire time he lived here, I EVER heard
him growl.
The trainer told the family that as [Dog] bonded with their daughter,
he would begin to alert them to an impending seizure. They were
initially told that there service dog would alert to a seizure, roll
their daughter onto her side to keep her from choking, and call 911.
Needless to say, [Dog] didn't learn any of that.
I am sure that I don't have all the story, but I would think that it
would be very difficult to train a dog as a service dog, even with
the background he already had, in a little over two months. I have
no doubt that he will alert to seizures as he bonds with the girl,
but that's a bit risky to assume, IMO.
Since then, I have heard some horror stories about how this woman
runs her training program from people with no knowledge about [Dog].
This trainer came to me highly recommended.
I haven't seen the contract to see if there is anything that can be
done. This family is on limited resources as well. The kids at the
school that the girl goes to witnessed a seizure at the end of the
year last year and researched non-profit service dog providers and
did fund raisers to pay for the dog ($3000.000). Their local tv and
newspapers traveled to [Far Away USA State] to interview this trainer after she was
chosen. The entire town was behind this family and thought they were
doing the right thing.
Is there anything this family can do? Who would they contact to
complain about the lack of training their service dog received? Are
there any trainers near [Far Away USA City] that would be willing to help
get this family back on the right track with their service dog (he
has been renamed [Another Dog Name]).
In May I donated a young chocolate lab male to a non-profit
organization that trains service dogs for autistic children as well
as seizure alert dogs. I bred this dog, trained this dog, got his
CGC, TDI certification, micro-chipped him (as I do with all my pups)
and made sure he was current on all shots. This dog was great with
children, tuned into them and responded well to their direction and
ignored any and all inappropriate actions toward him (not that I
condone this, but in the real world, it happens) and my kids could
walk him on lead without any issues, he maneuvered through medical
equipment without a second glance, and was all around a great dog at
20 months.
Anyway, I felt that he had a greater calling then family pet with an
occasional Therapy visit under his belt and when a family called me
to see if I had a dog that might be appropriate for training as a
service dog for their autistic dog, I mentioned [Dog]. I also told
them that, while he was well behaved and that I had done the CGC and
TDI, I did not train service dogs and he would need to find a trainer
for him.
They found a trainer a couple of counties away and she came to see if
she thought [Dog] would fit the bill as a service dog. This woman
presented herself in a very knowledgeable manner and was all about
the dog and how he was going to be such a good service dog, blah,
blah, blah and she took [Dog]. We knew he had some initial shyness to
strange places and people, he's not one of those labs that thinks
everyone is his friend, and wants to size the situation up first so
we were concerned about hooking him up with the child that we
initially sent [Dog] for but, because he was donated for that family,
the family would not be charged for a different dog, just the
training. This little boy had quite a few more problems then just
autism and had to travel to [Far Away City in USA] several times a month for
doctor visits and treatment. It was deemed that [Dog] would not be
suited for him but was definitely going to work for someone a little
older.
Present
A week ago, I got a call from a woman in [Far Away State in USA] who said she
had a dog that had been turned into a shelter with all his paperwork
and she wanted to get him registered to them. First, I mentioned all
my dogs and puppies are chipped to me so I should have gotten a call
if one of my dogs ended up in a shelter so I was just floored by that
and then she told me it was [Dog]! I had to get off the phone to
process that information and compose myself because my heart broke
right then!
I called her back and got the rest of the story. [Dog] did, in fact,
go to a child that has epileptic seizures and they couldn't be
happier with him. However, the trainer told these people that she
got [Dog] from a shelter that someone had turned him in with all his
papers and she didn't know why. This upset me because we were doing
a good deed and I do everything possible to ensure that my pups DO
NOT end up in shelter by micro-chipping and a return clause in the
contract.
Then, I get more of the story. Apparently [Dog] has received no
training other then the training he got while he was here. I have
seen that the trainer is taking credit for his CGC and TDI certs.
[Dog] is showing some behaviors that he never had here such as
growling at other dogs. He was raised in a doggie day care
environment, he played with every type of dog with no problems,
ever. I don't think in the entire time he lived here, I EVER heard
him growl.
The trainer told the family that as [Dog] bonded with their daughter,
he would begin to alert them to an impending seizure. They were
initially told that there service dog would alert to a seizure, roll
their daughter onto her side to keep her from choking, and call 911.
Needless to say, [Dog] didn't learn any of that.
I am sure that I don't have all the story, but I would think that it
would be very difficult to train a dog as a service dog, even with
the background he already had, in a little over two months. I have
no doubt that he will alert to seizures as he bonds with the girl,
but that's a bit risky to assume, IMO.
Since then, I have heard some horror stories about how this woman
runs her training program from people with no knowledge about [Dog].
This trainer came to me highly recommended.
I haven't seen the contract to see if there is anything that can be
done. This family is on limited resources as well. The kids at the
school that the girl goes to witnessed a seizure at the end of the
year last year and researched non-profit service dog providers and
did fund raisers to pay for the dog ($3000.000). Their local tv and
newspapers traveled to [Far Away USA State] to interview this trainer after she was
chosen. The entire town was behind this family and thought they were
doing the right thing.
Is there anything this family can do? Who would they contact to
complain about the lack of training their service dog received? Are
there any trainers near [Far Away USA City] that would be willing to help
get this family back on the right track with their service dog (he
has been renamed [Another Dog Name]).
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