Service dogs and home dogs?
I have been taking steps to be a puppy raiser for Minnesota Hearing and Service Dogs, I got the puppy raiser manual, but I'm wondering if maybe I shouldn't wait until after Tommy to start doing it. They want thier dogs trained very specifically and I'm wondering about cross over learning. Puppies learn from adult dogs and Tommy does a lot of things they don't want thier dogs to do. Is there a way to avoid cross over learnig, do you guys think it would be worth while to train the puppy as well as I can and then do brush up training away from Tommy? I'm a little confused any one with ideas would be greatly apprieciated.
Comments
My advice would be,
1. Train Tommy out of these "things" first, then bring the 2nd pup in. [ so the pup doesn't pick up on such behaviors ]
2. Train them separately, always, in a private area where they cannot see each other. [ for the same reason above, as well as the pup being trained will have better focus on you, this is of course, outside any group / socialization training that goes on. I'm talking about one-on-one obedience training ]
Just my thoughts. Curious to hear everyone else's advice
Tommy is a very old dog, right? While its true that dogs learn from other dogs, their elders and pack members, this pup has at least a year or two with you before he starts his specified service training, right? I would think anything he learns from Tommy will be valuable, esp dog-to-dog communications and respecting an elder, and his training would be specific and separate from that otherwise. I think he would have a lot to learn from Tommy and you and all the socialization adventures.
Rina - some organizations allow you to have other pets, some encourage it. I don't think puppy raisers actually train the specific service part, rather they raise a well socialized and basic obedience savvy young adult dog.
The puppy would be with me for 6-18 months, the orginizations puppys are raised only by volunteer puppy raisers and are not to terribly picky about other animals it the home, because they ask you to provide everything for the dog out of your own pocket, except really expensive vet bills.
I really appreciate the thoughts and comments on this, it has been bugging me for quite some time.
For example, Lucy is an obsessive licker, so she is not allowed to lick me without being asked. Joey on the other hand gives out kisses on a very limited bases, so he is allowed to lick me whenever he wants. I just have to be consistent with each dog in their own way.
Another example is Thea, the 90 pound swissy that stays with us on occasion. She is not allowed on furniture by her parents, so I don't allow her on the furniture here. Lucy and Joey will often taunt her by getting her to chase them and then jumping onto the top of the couch. Thea will stop in her tracks. Again, it's all about consistency.
Ultimately it comes down to whether or not you feel comfortable being super consistent in enforcing the different rules.
Tom's parents have 3 poodles (Toy, Miniature and Standard). They feel that it's ok for small dogs to go on the couch, but the standard would take up too much space to sit next to. The two little ones are allowed on the couch, and the standard knows that he is not allowed on the couch. He got used to the fact that he had to stay on the floor, and now won't go on the couch even if you want him to.
Our pups have practically lived with 3 other dogs that are well accustomed to begging, they even get to lick the pot. We don't give our guys any food when we eat, don't even feed them their kibble until we are done. We make sure to separate them from the others when begging has occurred, and definitely keep them from seeing the other dogs get human food. Our guys don't beg, when we eat they'll sniff the air but they won't sit there and stare at us. They'll grab a toy or take a nap, and leave us to our meal while the other dogs are staring us down for a treat.
There are ways around everything, and different dogs in the same household can be given different rules. For example the stories on this forum about dogs who are pets and dogs who are workers, they co-exist but follow the rules set upon them. There is always the chance that whoever will using the puppy as a service dog will have other dogs in the household who have similar mannerisms as Tommy, and the service dog will have to know that they are not to do that. I think, so long as you are consistent with the rules for the puppy, and become a little sneakier when giving human treats to Tommy, the puppy will learn what it must know.
Plus, you can also think of this as helping with the training, as the puppy will have to overcome the temptations of what Tommy is allowed to do but the puppy can not.
One more question, they crate train their dogs. which i have never done before, they'll train me in on it before i get a dog, but is 12:30-6:00pm too long to be in a crate? should i have someone come let puppy outside while i'm at work or do you think it'll be okay?
I know that some people will disagree with me on this, but once the puppy is older (like 7-8 months or more) they can spend the whole day in a crate. There are those who believe 3-4 hours is the max a dog should ever be in a crate at one time. I crate my dogs whenever I'm gone. I'm typically out of the house for no more than 7 hours at a time. The caveat is that my dogs have crates that are much bigger than they need to be. I don't crate my dogs to train them anymore, I crate them to keep them safe from each other and from whatever mischief they might get into while I'm gone. During training, they both had smaller crates to serve a different purpose.