You might have noticed from all the pictures of working dogs we have raised, that they are all Labradors. The two main breeds that are used as Guide Dogs in South Africa are Labrador Retriever or Golden Retrievers, or a mixture of the two. Recently the organisation have also started using German Shepard's as a breed.
Take Volt for instance. He is actually 3/4 Golden Retriever but looks like a Labrador. As a Puppy Raiser family we prefer the Labradors over the Goldens, mainly because the Goldens are divas! But more on that a bit later.
Labrador Retriever
[Picture sourced from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labrador_Retriever]
.jpg)
Golden Retriever
[Picture courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Retriever]
German Shepard
[Picture courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Shepherd]
There are a specific reasons why these dog breeds are chosen to work as Guide Dogs. First and foremost is their size. They can easily curl up under a seat at your feet and sit in the foot well of your car but is still big enough that their harness is within easy reach of their owner. But size is not the only reason, else most breeds would qualify (We have had Standard Poodles as Guide Dogs in the Past as well due the hyper allergenic properties of their fur).
A second reason for these breeds are their intelligence. Once again, they are by no means the smartest breeds, but they are still pretty intelligent. Some research suggests that they can learn over 200 words in their lifetime. They need to be intelligent and be able to show initiative.
Another reason is their temperament and this especially present in the Labradors and Goldens. They are great with other dogs and children. They can be focused when they are working and an absolute crazy puppy when they are not. The Goldens are especially good as Service Dogs as they are generally calm and easy to control, so they won't be pulling their owner out of a wheel chair when they get exited or distracted.
Something that makes the Labradors great candidates are the need to please. This need is not so strong in the Goldens but still there. They are also very treat driven even if the treats we give them are just their food pellets. This is where the Goldens are the divas. A Labrador will do back-flips on command if it means a treat is on offer and always look hungry! A Golden will however just as easily ignore the treat completely if they don't feel like it at that moment.
And then finally is the soft mouth that these breeds have. As a lot of them work as Service Dogs and needs to pick up items for their owners, they need to be able to pick things up without damaging it. These dogs can be taught to be very careful and softly pick up and "retrieve" items. Make no mistake though, if not trained and monitored they can just as easily destroy things. They are some of the biggest chewers out there.
To end here is a picture of our Riggs playing with another future Guide Dog called Lyric. Just to show you that it isn't all work and no play. When they are not working or training they are like any other pet, and they love to play!
In a future post I will tell you a bit more about how we go about picking our Pup's name.
Till then feel free to visit https://conradiezoo.wordpress.com/ and follow Riggs progress.
There is also a Facebook Page dedicated to our Puppy Raising Journey: https://www.facebook.com/APupsLife/
Upvoted by Proudly South African Steemians(@psas). You can follow us for more truely South African content.
If you are from South Africa, you are more than welcome to join us on Discord. https://discord.gg/xRznW7S
You hit the nail on the head with your "Diva" statement!
Brilliant post - and I really do take my hat off to you and your family, it must be really hard to love and train a pup, and then let go - even if it is for such a great cause!
Thank you! It doesn't get easier with time. And we do have our favorites which makes it sometimes just a little bit harder to let go.
I fully understand - I am the same when it comes to rearing or healing animals and releasing them back into the wild, it is a happy sad day!
Wow @glugster I have 2 labs 1 golden retriever and 1 black lab. and then a half breed lab . I find the golden one to be so distructive when I am not around. she is a beautiful dog , just a big hand ful. I think it is because she wasn't trained as a pup. she is almost 4 years old. do you think it's to late to train her. she jumps up on visitors and just adores kids , but is a bit rough. do you have any any advise for me.
You can definitely still train her. Phew, there is a lot you can do but I don't think there is enough space here. For a start, when you do have visitors, ask them to completely ignore her when they come in, until she has calmed down. Don't talk to her. Don't pat her. Nothing. Once she is a bit calmer, then they can greet her. With time she will learn that the jumping is not acceptable. You can also try and have some treats with you and reward her when she actually do something you want, like be calm and not jumping. Positive re-inforcement. So reward her for doing good, don't punish her for doing bad. Punishment is still giving attention (This is a lot more difficult than it sounds though). Oh, if she is not treat driven giving treats might not work that well so you need to use high-value treats like liver bread.
For being a bit rough with kids, the minute she starts getting to rough, separate her from the kids until she calms down a bit. Then let her get back to playing. She will learn what is an acceptable level of play, and what is not.
My wife is the real pro with the training so I will ask her as well.
Thanks so much @gluster you have been a great help. I was thinking of tsking her to training session with other dogs. she has so much energy . fortunately we have a big property for her to run. thanks a gain for the in put.much appreciated.
Interesting to read about the breed @glugster the reasoning behind the choice of dog breed for using as working dogs.
Thanks. The Guide Dog Program is really Scientific in their approach. They leave nothing to chance, but I will expand a bit more on that in future posts.
Interesting article @glugster and I can easily relate. We have a black lab at home and she truly is an amazing member of our family. My youngest used to sleep with her in her bed and she has always been so super patient. Great dogs indeed.
Absolutely. And they have great personalities!
That's brilliant mate, I love Labradors, and great working raising guide dogs. Do you just raise guide dogs or do you raise other working dogs like cocker spaniels for sniffing stuff out ?
Great work, hence the big garden and mushroom/ toadstool round up !!!
If you have a blog, why not post here first, then in your blog an hour or so later so cheetah doesn't get you ? win win, I bet loads of people would love to see this.
We are focused on working with the Guide Dog Association only. They however have 3 types of working dogs that they train. Guide Dogs - The ones we all know. Service Dogs - For people with physical disabilities. Autism Support Dogs - For children with Autism. When we raise a puppy they might end up in any of these professions. We have produced both Guide Dogs and Service Dogs so far.
With regards to the personal blog, I don't really blog there anymore. The post that Cheetah flagged I did quite a while ago so there was no way to get around it. I was actually impressed with how quickly Cheetah picked up on it.
yes, Cheetah is totally on the ball. One of the first articles I posted here was one Id written for another site and it got picked up within seconds of me posting it here, either way, you have a great niche subject to build on here. Look forward to reading more :-)