[Dr89]

There is a thousand things wrong with the above post, so much that I don't know where to begin.

I guess I'll just take the easy route and say that a 3 month old goldendoodle isn't a service dog (a goldendoodle isn't even a breed, so wherever she got it just contributed to the onslaught of BYB's and the downfall of so many breeds, but thats a whole other topic), and I have no idea why you would pay that amount of money for one. You could rescue a GSD, lab, golden, or mix of some kind for like 75 bucks, and then take it to a good trainer, or even board it, for around 500 bucks, give or take...and have like 3 times the dog?

As for mentioning you're daughters name, perhaps it wasn't necessary, but if it was in the public press then it definitely wasn't illegal...so I don't know what you're attorney has to do with anything.

 

[Dr89]

Did you not read what I wrote??? She isn't a service dog. She will BE a service dog. She is in training....I don't have an issue with it...why do you? And as for my daughters name or using any of her info....it may have been public, but the places that used the stories both had PERMISSION to say what they said...this forum however...does NOT. I will not have anything negative associated with her name. You did NOT contact me for permission to use it, it was NOT approved by me. Remove it.

I don't have an issue with you, I have an issue with the lady making money in a very, very unscrupulous manner. There is absolutely NO reason you needed to pay that kind of price for such a dog, trained or not.

She should have referred you to a good breeder, or a rescue with a worthy dog, and made no money off the dog itself, and then let you bring it back for service dog training for a price closer to the $500-$1000 range.

^^^ that isn't even the optimal way to do it, but leaps and bounds better than what she is doing.

As for the goldendoodle, I don't need to research it--mixing two purebred dogs still results in a mutt with no standard temperament or predictable outcome, which is not ideal when searching for a service dog, and certainly not for $6500.

Again--I don't have a problem with you at all and if this decision satisfies you then I wish you well. But it doesn't negate the fact that what this lady is doing is UNETHICAL, and is hurting people and animals.

 

[Dr89]

Its not that easy. My current service dog was a rescue dog, but I was insanely lucky. It is not easy being a SD and many well bred dogs that are bred specifically for service work wash out and never make it through. On top of temperament, trainability, etc the dog also has to be very healthy. For a GSD, hips and elbows done is a MUST. And it costs much more than $500 to train a service dog, and approximately 1.5-2 years of training. I've spent around $2k on Tessa's training.

You can definitely find an appropriate dog in rescue to be a service dog... But its very hard and I appreciate how lucky I was.

Sorry if I appeared to water this down to much, but I wasn't trying to suggest this is the way to go about it, I was just trying to get across that the method originally posted was not the optimal way to operate.

And as you say, 1.5-2 years to become a service dog, the report says the dogs go back for training for 3-5 months -- so thank you for clarifying that that is not an appropriate amount of time.

As for the price, that was just a guess because around here service dogs can be attained through non-profit organizations for little to no money, depends on your income and your use for the dog. I shouldn't have generalized this to all service dogs, but I think it's irrelevant to the point I was trying to make--albeit a little unclear it seems.

I mentioned rescues because thats what nearly all the service dogs in my area are -- but even a reputable breeder with outstanding progeny and working dogs would cost considerably less than $7500

 

[Dr89]

do you go to work for FREE? those who go to college make upward of a million dollars more then those who just complete high school. You pay a DR that specializes in something more money then the one that is just a general practioner. Those who take the extra time and put out the money required to get the extra degrees or certifications ought to get paid for it.

If you take the amount of time for someone to train a service dog (aprox 250 hrs) and add the extras, vet, equipment pd by the company, and finding a qualified dog trainer (one that has gone the extra mile to prove that they know how to propperly train a service dog speciality) you end up loosing money after 1.5 years to 2 yrs.

I know from personal experience that it is very VERY easy to cause damage to a dog that is in training for service work. I have been rehabing a dog for almost 2 years to get her back to where she used to be.
Find a trainer and then do your resarch on that person.

NDFH is not ripping people off she has a daughter that has Epilepsy and I can tell that you don't know the cost of having a child with something that can kill her in the night. NDFH is saving lives one dog at a time.

Thanks for shedding more light on this topic, as all we had to go by was the original posts as well as the attached article.

However, I must say that usually organizations don't get bad press for nothing. And repeatedly getting bad press that's just a result of misunderstandings, etc, is very unlikely.

 

[Dr89]

are you seriously here because you're arguing a 4 month old thread? i mean really? This is an old debate and honestly not relevant any longer IMO.

I don't know how it's any less relevant now than it was then?? It clearly didn't get any kind of attention until now.

I think Lin has some great insights and with the trainer of these dogs now on here I'd like to know if the bad press was in fact deserved or if it was unwarranted. The article seems pretty clear...

And for starters letting the girl choose her dog seems like a red flag -- don't even breeders try to pair pups with appropriate owners, let alone a dog who may have the handler's life as it's responsibility?

Even offering "Goldendoodles" is another red flag...I think there's plenty of relevance here, personally!

 

[Dr89]

What is your issue against these dogs??? Because it's not a German Shepherd? Because it's not a purebred dog? I'm just not getting it at all. Why would her getting to choose what kind of dog be a red flag? She didn't get to choose HER dog...just what kind. She wasn't given an inventory of what she had...Kiara had not even been purchased (yes, I said purchased as she was NOT donated) at that time. She was hand picked for Tab from numerous pups. The original one that was picked was actually switched when it became apparent that the pups temperament wasn't fitting for what was needed of a service dog.
And for the person that feels this isn't relevant...no one is making you read this...so rather than try to shut it down....just don't look at it.

The fact that this dog is working out for you is FANTASTIC. I feel like you're taking this as a personal attack and that is not what I intend to do.

The fact that goldendoodles are being offered is what I don't think is appropriate. Specific breeds are what they are because people have spent hundreds of years making them into that. If you hunt quail or waterfowl you buy a german short haired pointer because it has a soft mouth, points, and retrieves. You buy that because you EXPECT it to do these things and in all likeliness it will act in a very predictable way. Goldendoodle's do not have this type of predictability. And they never will as long as people are mixing a golden retriever and a poodle--you just can't quantify the outcome!

Like I said, nothing against you here! I'm very pleased that this dog is working for you and that is what matters. But it's irresponsible for the training service to be purchasing and/or breeding these types of dogs. There are plenty of breeds suitable to service needs with reputable breeders producing very good and predictable dogs.

 

[Dr89]

See...that's exactly what I'm talking about. How can you make a comment about the breeding practices or the people that breed them, when you don't know these people? Their names (the breeder) was NEVER mentioned...

It's like a vicious circle trying to get this point across

The fact they're breeding goldendoodle's is all one needs to know in order to call into question their breeding practices.