Clever is in the news!

[draggar]

Clever (renamed Corbin) was one of the male puppies from our "C" litter (German Shepherds). He is being trained as a service dog for autistic children.

http://www.local10.com/video/27850132/index.html

Siobhan is my wife's friend who is heading up this project.

 

[H2FC]

Its a worthy cause that needs promoting. But I question why it costs so much money to train one of these dogs and place it with a needy owner?

My first thought is that somebody needs to start thinking out of the box. Why not a dog farm supported by donations where dog training volunteers could be used?

 

[Gerry]

Its a worthy cause that needs promoting. But I question why it costs so much money to train one of these dogs and place it with a needy owner?

My first thought is that somebody needs to start thinking out of the box. Why not a dog farm supported by donations where dog training volunteers could be used?

Typically, service dogs are provided to the person in need free of charge. I am not sure that is the case in every instance.

Fostering or training a service dog is not cheap and not easy. There are programs that take 18-24 months to complete. Training is a daily, hours long ordeal. Housing, feeding, training, and care expenses while training and fostering is expensive. Many service dog programs have rigorous training programs and competencies to pass.

A big reason why we have not gotten into fostering is the attachment and bonds we have with the dogs. It would be very hard to give them up.

There are also programs utilizing prisoners and inmates who train and work with service dogs. Many of these programs have been very successful not only for the dogs but for the inmates.

 

[draggar]

Its a worthy cause that needs promoting. But I question why it costs so much money to train one of these dogs and place it with a needy owner?

My first thought is that somebody needs to start thinking out of the box. Why not a dog farm supported by donations where dog training volunteers could be used?

We would lovwe to have "donated" Clever but we lost money on the litter (and yes, it is a business). Plus, as Doc Com mentioned, it takes clsoe to two years of training and 90% of it can't be done by regular people. Sure, the basic commands can be (sit, stay etc..) but the actual service dog part can't (mainly because it is out of the realm of most dog trainers).

Service dog organizations wouldn't last long if they devoted so much time and money into it and ddn't ask for anything in return, they need to eat and pay for ther organization, too (insurance, registration, etc..). Luckily, it is a charity (many are 501(c)(3) so it can be tax deductible and the family ends up spending little out of pocket.

My wife is starting up a similar program for disabled veterans and hops to have enough funding / doantions that the costs for our dogs will be **MUCH** lower but $15K is average for a service dog.