Well I emailed back and forth with a representative of GEB for a few days, asking as many questions that I could think of. My decision is this:
I will not raise for GEB.
I'm not going to go into reasons, except that they have very different style/technique of training than I am used to. This is not to say I am set in my ways and refuse to try different techniques, because that's false. I've been doing positive reinforcement with Fala and it's going well. However, the techniques GEB uses, to ME, do not seem beneficial or helpful to the guide dogs in training. When I asked the representative about this, she did not write back. So... I made the very easy decision not to raise for them.
Am I bummed that I won't be raising in the near future? Yeah, of course I am. I was excited at just the possibility. But I am not sad with my decision. I know it's the right one.
So, back to enjoying Fala and being excited for the day when Jake and I get a little puppy of our very own. :)
While it's got to be disappointing, I understand! You certainly don't want to raise for an organization that doesn't communicate well!
ReplyDeleteJust an idea though.... Guide Dogs of the Desert raises a lot more like GDA does and has raisers all over the US. Just saying :-)
GDF also has many raisers possibly some up your way I don't know. :)
ReplyDeleteBut I feel your pain. I think I'm about take to a real break after Pompei goes back...we'll see :)
Have you looked into Fidelco? I know that they're also up that way, but they do only train Sheps. You could also try CCI because they're around here too. I'd be interested to know what your thoughts are about GEB, but I understand not wanting to bring it up on a public forum. Good luck in your puppy search (or wait as it seems for now). :-)
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