Hello EFs
After moving here in 2014 with our 2 Aussies who have since passed, and having a foster Galgo (from grisette.ch)…we are onto the next step of dog life…puppy raising for the guide dog school Allschwil ( https://www.blindenhundeschule.ch/ ).
We’ve had our foster pup since January and she’ll stay with us until next winter/spring. Having a young puppy at home has been an adventure (even more so with kids at home) but she’s a very nice dog (which I think owes greatly in part to the fantastic breeding program in Allschwil). It’s been great to really “take her everywhere” (well…almost everywhere). She comes to the grocery store, museums, and lots of other places that are usually “no dogs allowed”.
If anyone is thinking of taking the plunge to take on a Patenhund and has any questions, feel free to ask and/or get in touch. It’s a lot of work (as raising any puppy), but so far, has been really enjoyable.
Thats a really good thing you are doing
Can you tell us more about the practical stuff? For example, do you do any training with her? Or is it mostly just get her everywhere and get her used to stuff? Does she have to wear a dog in training vest?
And can we have a picture?
Our neighbour is doing the same thing with a dog from the Romandie equivalent
https://www.chienguide.ch/fr
We’re required to go to regular puppy and junghund classes. And then we have a trainer from the school that we visit with every month’ish. They give us some extra training activities that we should do (eg. walking in a training guide harness, whistle recall training, some commands are in Italian, etc) but mainly it’s just growing up a puppy and getting her out to experience regular life.
She’s not required to wear the vest but it does help to keep everyone from wanting to pet and meet a cute Lab puppy Also going into the shops, they generally don’t question her presence.
But you can ask me in a year how the “return” process goes
Sunrise hike Spitzhorli (Wallis)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2jddAVoZobR2B6RD6
this is my wish to do, but the dog is not allowed to stay alone at home at any time, so any working people, not really.
even though I go to work maybe 2 days a week and I usually don't stay the whole day, and my dog sitter comes to walk my dog now. so I don't see the problem with it, but ok.
is it really like that? that the dog is not allowed to stay alone at all?
Good for you! I suspect most Brits of a certain age will be quite familiar with the concept of guide dog puppy walking as the children's TV programme Blue Peter always sponsored the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association by getting all us kids to collect aluminium milk bottle tops (how can they do that nowadays?!) and following the puppy walking training.
Not tempted to foster another galgo from grisette? Nearly two years on, our Shadow has transformed into a happy, playful dog
A neighbor where I use to live was a puppy walker for many dogs over many years. She said that despite the inevitable heart-ache when the pups each left for guide dog training, it was one of the most rewarding things she had ever done. I hope you will find that to be true for you as well.
My neighbor eventually retired from puppy walking... Then not too long afterwards she got a phone call. One of 'her' pups had reached retirement age and the family could not keep him. Would she be interested in giving this dog a home for his golden years?
When the dog met her again, after all these years, he remembered.
And they lived happily ever after.
---
You are doing a wonderful thing, Finnella. Respect and kudos!
I think they recommend not to work more than 50%...but I can't remember for sure. I work 60% but since "you know what" I've been doing home office and have very flexible hours.
All the pups are trained to be left alone as it's an important life skill. Like "all" Swiss dogs, a few hours at a time is reasonable.
Won't rule out fostering another galgo in the future! So nice to hear that Shadow is a great dog Buster (my foster galgo) is doing great too
This may not matter to most people, but when I looked into it, the age limit was 64 for someone taking on the raising of these puppies. Nevertheless, it’s a great thing.
Wonderful story! I don't think we as fosterers ever forget any of our temp dogs...always have a soft spot for them to land anytime.
Not sure I'll become a "serial" puppy raiser as we would like to travel again (at least next year)....and as raisers we do commit to the year'ish of staying with the pup. But so far it's been a really good experience.
What a great thing to do, bravo finnella for undertaking this! I am a self-professed dog-a-phobe by default (because I grew up in redneck North America where having large, aggressive, and completely untrained dog is something many of my neighbours prided themselves on) but then in Uni I became good friends with a legally blind student whose guide dog was amazing and gave her so much freedom in life.
I ended up marrying into a family where one of the uncles is by profession a guide dog trainer: he gets the pups after their mandatory foster sejourn with a family and he completes the training (and sadly, many of them fail at this final step). These two life experiences (interacting with a guide dog + meeting a professional trainer) have given me a new appreciation for guide dogs and what a difference they can make to one single person.
So bravo again for deciding to be a part of this world. But am I the only who thinks the one thing this thread is missing is a pic of your lovely pup?
If anyone has ever thought of “puppy raising” for the guide dog school, now is the time! The Allschwil guide dog school ( https://www.blindenhundeschule.ch/ ) is looking urgently for foster families for puppies. The school has a litter of 10 puppies and only 3 have foster families lined up. And they are expecting another litter soon.
We are coming to the end of our time with our puppy and it’s been a great experience. Unfortunately, our puppy will not be going for guide dog training as she is too sound sensitive (has been since young), and is a bit (ok…alot ) over-excitable. We also are not keeping her (was never in our plans), but the school has a list of homes waiting for these “job change” dogs. We won’t take on a new foster puppy right away (mainly due to our international travel plans), but probably in the future.
https://telebasel.ch/2022/12/20/zu-wenig-paten-fuer-welpen/?channel=105100&fbclid=IwAR156mt4jyrsqsvd9rRVYNurF vbUGgk3bRHHj13X_CEKcykdRuTK-vWb2xg
Kudos to you and your family, Finnella! I'm glad to hear that it was a good experience for you all.
And thanks for highlighting the current need for fosters. It's such important work.
For Allschwil, according to the link posted above, the age limit is 65. There is an English language option in the link (top right of the page, select menu, language options are on the left)