Hi, planning on puppy walking for guide dogs and have basic dog questions please

[LardLizard]

Hi, everyone
I've never had a dog before
And we've decided to volounteer to take on a guide dog puppy for a year

We have a few basic quesultiins we wondered if any of you guys might know the answers

1. How often do you bath a dog ? And what sort of dog shampoo do you use

1. Do you clip the claws like trim them or just leave them?

1. Do you brush the teeth twice a day and what do you use ?

4.if all four of us are in the car, where does the dog go?
In the footwell of the back or in the boot?!
Surely not the boot?
But DH wants me to ask!

or on the middle seat of the back of the car
And do we need to tie its lead to somewhere or something ?

5.If we get a 8 week old puppy
What will it be able to do toilet wise ?

1. Will it destroy us having to let go?

When it's time to leave ?

1. How many hours will a puppy sleep for ?

1. How long can I take it out on walks?

Will one or two hours be too long for the dog!

1. Do you think males or females are better?

And why?

10. Would it be a good idea put out stair gates up ?

And basically do you have any other tips or advice for us at all ?

Many thanks

1. I have a breed you don't bath. I wouldn't regularly bath any dog really.
2. Haven't clipped claws yet. Interesting to hear from more experienced owners.
3. I should brush teeth. Not twice a day though. She's been teething so I'm feeding raw carrot to help with teeth.
4. Dog needs to be secure. Mine goes in the boot with a guard up. Could crate if you get dog used to it. Mine did a poo in the car last week. You don't want that on the back seat
5. Look at Dog training advice and support on FB. Great pages on toilet training. Watch it like a hawk and take out after food, playing and when waking from a nap. Avoid pads as they just teach dog to pee inside.
6. Would me! But you are doing a great thing and can take on another puppy and help more.
7. Sleep? Hahahahaha! I slept on the floor in the kitchen for three weeks. They will have periods of playing and sleeping but like a baby won't sleep through to start with.
8. Far far too long for a little pup. More like minutes per month of life.
9. I've got a girl. Not sure.

10. We have stair gates as we don't let pup uspstairs and we have cats. We can separate them.

Thank you for your detailed reply wolfie

So in terms of walking the dog

Is that one min per month old so when it's only two months old can only walk it for two mins ?

It's seems like it's quite similar to raising children really
Esp wth the toilet training like take Them outside after meals
Etc
And reward the good

I understood 5 mins walking per month of life while a puppy. So 10 mins at 2 months old.

1. My dog only gets a bath when he goes to the groomers so around every 6-8 weeks as we want to keep his coat short.

1. Claws clipped at groomers. I am too scared I would hurt him to do them myself.

1. I should do it once a day but I do it once a week and not very well as he hates it.

1. Mine goes in the boot with a dog guard. Whether you decide to tether them to a seat belt or in the boot they need to be secure otherwise just like any other large object they would be a flying missile in the event of an accident if unsecured. Definitely do not put them in the footwell :(

1. At 8 weeks expect lots of poo and pee accidents until you have toilet trained them. It took me several weeks to be 100% toilet trained.

1. I am not sure I could devote my time to a puppy and give them up at 1 year but fortunately lots of people do by training a guide dog.

1. Depends. They sleep lots but then have mad half hours where they tear around. Also expect some sleepless nights when young. Some sleep through but lots don't.

1. When young only a few mins a couple of times a day which can be increased as they get older.

1. Personal preference.

10. Stair gates are good to keep them in certain areas. Mine at 7 months still does not have free run of the house unless I am with him in case he decides to chew or eat something he shouldn't.

Guideline is 5 mins walking per month of age. I do a bit more than that but I expect you will be given strict instructions on how much exercise to protect their joints given they will be guide dogs.

1. As little as possible really. Mine generally only get a proper bath with shampoo if they've rolled in something revolting. If they're just muddy then water alone is enough to rinse it off.

2. Nails need clipping regularly, I do my dogs' once a week. It's really important to keep nails nice and short as if they get too long they alter how the dog uses their feet which isn't comfortable for them and can also have knock on effects higher up their legs. This is a really good article (and video) about the importance of short nails and how to get them.

3. Mine get their teeth brushed once a day with Logic Oral Hygiene Gel. It's great stuff as it gets to work even if all you can manage is to smear a bit on their gums.

4. Definitely no to the footwell!! Ideally a decent crate in the boot but if it's not big enough then a properly crash tested seatbelt harness on the back seat. This isn't just to protect the dog in the event of a crash but the other occupants of the car as well.

5. This article (from the group mentioned by Wolfiefan will give you a good idea of toileting capabilities and house training.

6. Can't help with that one but plenty of people obviously do puppy walking or fostering puppies for rescues and find it really rewarding.

7. Initially they actually sleep loads, it just doesn't feel like it because when they're awake they're horrible and they usually need to go out at least once a night for a while as well.

8. Hours is definitely too long for a puppy, particularly of the sort of breeds that guide dog pups will be. The general rule is five minutes per month of life but that's for sustained lead walking really, off lead playing and noodling about they can do as much as they want really although sometimes you do need to step in and tell them when to stop!!

9. No preference here, I've never found any real correlation between sex and temperament. I happen to have one bitch and three dogs just because the DDog2 isn't always terribly keen on other bitches.

10. If you want to keep the puppy out of certain areas then yes, they're a good idea.

My parents used to puppy walk. You get a really good handbook and a supervisor who visits regularly and will tell you everything you want to know. Guide Dogs prefer the puppies to sit in the front passenger foot well while they're little, but when they get bigger they go in the boot (estate cars are better for this!)

Mostly likely you won't get a choice of sex, breed or name. They will match you to a puppy. They're all lovely though!

Stair gates are a good idea, as are crates. You haven't known destruction until you've had puppies.

In terms of letting them go - yes it's horrible, but you know from day 1 it's going to happen, and when. You can get another immediately afterwards or leave it a bit and go on holiday. You'll get progress updates of how the pup is doing in training, and you might even hear from the dog's eventual owner, which is so rewarding!

Good luck, it's amazing fun, enjoy it.

"1. How often do you bath a dog ? And what sort of dog shampoo do you use"

With the breeds they use...if they get too dirty to brush it off, then I'd give them a bath, any dog shampoo really, it's not likely to be more than once or twice a year really.

"2. Do you clip the claws like trim them or just leave them?"

Depends on the dog, some wear them down enough just walking, some don't and they need clipped.

"3. Do you brush the teeth twice a day and what do you use ?"

Nope, once a day is the ideal, but I manage every few tbh, dog enzyme toothpaste and a brush

"4.if all four of us are in the car, where does the dog go?
In the footwell of the back or in the boot?!
Surely not the boot?
But DH wants me to ask!

or on the middle seat of the back of the car
And do we need to tie its lead to somewhere or something ?"

Crated in the boot is safest, then with a guard if you can't fit a crate.

Or on a seat with a crash tested harness, but there are only a couple of those on the market.

If you crash with a loose dog in the car, it will be thrown about, which obviously is an issue for the dog, but also passengers being hit by the dog.

"5.If we get a 8 week old puppy
What will it be able to do toilet wise ?"

You won't, they put them out to puppy walkers at 6-7 weeks and...it will not be housetrained or anywhere near being.

"6. Will it destroy us having to let go?
When it's time to leave ?"

Probably

"7. How many hours will a puppy sleep for ?"

They do about an hour and a half asleep and then 45 minutes of havoc and repeat all day.

"8. How long can I take it out on walks?
Will one or two hours be too long for the dog!"

You can't walk a puppy that age at all, they'll be fully vaccinated by 12 or 14 weeks (depending on the vaccines used) until then, they need to be carried off the ground anywhere that other dogs may have been, after that it's 5 minutes per month of age until 18 months... but you'd no longer have it by then anyway.

"9. Do you think males or females are better?
And why?"

Makes no difference you'll not be able to pick.

"10. Would it be a good idea put out stair gates up ?"

Depends on the layout of your house, I just use my doors.

We are puppy walkers for GUIDE DOGS

All of your questions will be answered by your (PWS or PTS)Your supervisor will help you with everything

It is amazing fun but also loads of hard work and very very sad when they leave - the puppy snatcher arrives to take it to training centre

We have our 1st puppy to stay for her holidays when her GDO goes on holiday. Our 2nd one came back to us and is now our pet

If you are on FB then join Guide Dog groups especially the lounge one and all the other PW will help you along every stage

Girls usually have one season then are done and boys are done during the year, we have only had girls,

PTS will sort out the claws for you

Toilet training is very simple and they pick it up quickly, but it is exhausting and time consuming, the more hard work you put in the better and quicker the outcome

They are taught to go wee and poo on BUSY command

They are also whistle trained for food and free running

Seriously give it a go and ask to meet a PTS or PWS (which is the old term but we still use it)

You will be allowed to pick which sex you want you might have a longer wait if lots of wrong sex are being born at the time

You can also choose a preference for breed but depends what is being bred and the allocation to your area but if you are picky you will have longer wait iyswim

PWS will give you a crate for the house and car, small to start with then medium etc

There are rules about resting after each meal which at beginning is 4 that is for puppy to digest food etc

Medium for house and small for car

Sorry, I don't think you're ready for this.

Guide dog puppies need experience to bring them up right to then be trained for their job.

Oh thanks for your helpful replies
I'm calling them tomorrow
We are all keen as a family to do this

My biggest worries are letting. It go when the time comes and how my youngest will cope when it goes as he will only be ablit five so hard for him to understand
My eldest will understand more

Good to have these questions answered esp the more basic stuff so I don't have to ask the puppy supervisors the most most basic things like how often to bath

I thought it might be once a week or something

You've all given me loads of things to research and find about about

At Brighton I think that will be for the guide dog people to decide
I think they will be bmvapavke of deciding if we are fit for the job

Rtkanga we have been to lemington spa twice now
Once for the breeding centre tour and once on the training center tour and have spoken to other puppy walkers and trainers
And seen the training. Books they use
Which is v helpful

How long is the wait normally for a puppy ?

How long do you think I'll need to get up until the night for

It seems to be it will be a bit like having another child
Mind you they slept through from six weeks and potty trained great
!!
In days
Mind you left it till quite late 2 and a half lol

I know they are not allowed to play with balls

Are they allow to sit if sofas or is that a no no ?

No deffo not on/in furniture or upstairs (used to be rule but as we sleep downstairs now not a thing for us)

We never got up in night unless puppy was unwell

We go to bed at midnight and DH is up at 6am so only 6 hours for them to go thru

It depends really if you have the stamina to give hours and hours of time to training the puppy

So you have a 4 year old and other child,

Presumably you are only out of the house for short times

Yes giving it up will be very very hard and no idea how a young child will understand cos my DS was a teenager when we started but when you show them the work they do to help a GDO then that will help

But you will all be very sad there is no doubt in that but you will also be very proud when you see your puppy in harness with the trainer before qualification and then you get to play with it at training centre

They never forget you, our one that came back we hadn't seen for months and she was so excited when she came into the room and saw me and now she is our pet

And the one that comes for holidays remembers us and goes completely batty when we arrive to collect her

She remembers where everything is in the house and garden

But it is rare to have them back for holidays so you have to go in thinking it won't happen

You will get loads more info from PWS and FB groups cos there is a GD way of doing things that you will get confused if you listen to non GD PoV iyswim

Yes I remember one of the trainers saying the dogs are certainly not allowed to sleep on beds upstairs

Do you use a crate or anything for them downs stairs or just a dog bed

Any in particular you would reccomend
Yes my youngest is heading towards four
They told me that it wouldn't be a problem and that you could actually do it with a younger child
But for me age 4plis is what I feel I could cope with
I'm a sahm so loads of time
And love to offer
Plus love animals and want to help

Do you ever have any bother wth taking them to cafes restaurants etc?

Deffo just had crate from GD from day 1 with cardboard box in with fleece blankets (ikea ones are cheap cuddly soft easy to wash and dry very quickly)

You can put a blanket over top of crate to make it like a den so a safe happy place for puppy

Deffo not sleep on human bed or settee

Great that you are home cos that is one of the strict rules as in not at work all day or more than 3/4 hours iirc I was at home so didn't take much attention of rules about time out at work, I have a friend that works lunchtime as dinner lady in primary school iyswim so out for very short time

Obviously if you are home you will be very suitable from that POV

Oh spending pen do you have secure area in garden that you can fence off for spending? On concrete unless you have a grass only puppy which we did as a trial several years ago but concrete is easier IMHO cos easy to keep clean but needs to be fenced or blocked in iyswim PWS will help you find somewhere if you can't decide

We designed our garden and extension in our new house specially for dog pen outside dog door from utility room but in old house it was a footpath at side of house next to house on one side and garden on other but we had to go round to it which in Jan wasn't too brill every 20 mins

You need to have secure garden anyway so check fences are in good order before PWS comes to inspect the garden and house

The only time we were questioned/challenged was in IKEA cos obviously saw a dog on cctv but then security came to check and we showed the id badge and flash on puppies lead and it was all ok

In our tesco puppies are like local celeb and all the staff love watching them grow up cos they go in from 8 weeks also John Lewis cafe they are used to seeing GD puppies

If in doubt show ID and explain why you are going in

In places like hospitals check with PALS or the dept you are going to to ask permission cos puppy doesn't have the same rights as GD but they need to get used to smells sounds etc in hospital cos they are obviously very different smells etc

The main problem is public who say "oh I know I shouldn't but just this once it is ok isn't it?" Then swoop in to make a fuss of puppy but problem is they could be the 10th person that day

It can lead to problems with puppies concentration and then a qualified GD it is dangerous as the dog might get distracted and guide their owner into dodgy situation

The worse time is waiting for green man at crossing that public will try to make a fuss of puppy or even worse a GD so they loose concentration which is obviously very dangerous

Do you have buses and trains near to where you live that you can take puppy on? We are lucky that we have tube trains near us and an end of line so we can spend time watching trains and then practise getting on and off train before travelling on them so a gentle exposure to getting on and off over the gap etc without being rushed or under pressure that it is about to leave station

If you live near leamington then shops etc will be used to seeing GD around area so it will do easier for you

Rtk, thanks very I hope for the replies

Well we are close to a train station
Where you can get London midland trains and virgin trains

Just under an hour from London
And also just under an hour from lemington
And we can also get buses and even boat rides here too
I've read in the GD website
That some train and bus companies let you use the trains/buses for free for training purposes
But it didn't state which ones?
Do you know about this at all?

I thought next year we could plan holidays around the dog and book a nice cottage
All the whole family are up for it

One other thing is
When goignin the school run
Most pet dogs
Well all pet dogs wait by the railings outside
Would I be better off walking the dog into school or do you have any recommendations about that ?

I know our arriva buses do and TFL trains do but don't know about others but your PWS will know

School gate I don't know about but PWS and headteacher would decide on that so wait until you have asked PWS before talking to head, DS was at senior school and we took puppy to concerts, school functions but DH taught there so might be different cos we knew head on personal level and they were very happy with using functions as training etc

If you have a girl think about season timing with holidays to cottage much easier to do it at home obviously puppy could have season within several months dates like girls having first period anytime from 9 - 13 years iyswim

Also boy have op at about 7 months I think but not 100% sure

Unless going to be potential breeding stock obviously

RTK has given a lot of good advice. All I wanted to add is that you will get plenty of time to ask these questions both in the application stage, and once you get the puppy (assuming you've been successful)

With regards to your school run questions, it's probably best checking with the head - explain that you'll be taking on a GD puppy (once you've been accepted) and that you would like to know if it would be ok to bring it onto school property. I would probably hold off doing that whilst it's very young as you'll likely get a load of kids swarming you which can be confusing for the puppy. Also, puppies bite and scratch, even GD puppies, and you wouldn't want a kid accidentally getting chewed. Your Supervisor will have much better guidelines on that front.

General advice is just to talk to people; talk to someone at the station, someone on the buses - get used to having people approach you and talk to you, and as has already been said, get used to having to be firm with people when pup is working.

Thanks so much for all the help and advice

Rtk if I have anymore questions would you mind if I pm you ?

You've answered all my questions and also got me to think about other things I hadn't even considered
Like going into season
Etc

I've got loads to research just from these ideas
I did manage to find out that five puppy walkers are needed in my area at the moment
Although I wasn't planning on doing. It till after October

So there seems to be a need for it
In my area

What do you tend to say to people when they say try and stroke the dog when your walking it ?

Thanks so much for all the help
Fingers crossed for our journey

Yes you can pm me if you like

With public I say the puppy is learning how to concentrate so please don't distract while she is concentrating

If there is time between me noticing someone is going in for a swoop then I say you can really help the puppy to learn to be a GD if you just watch it from a distance if it is a child then sometimes I say that they can gently quietly calmly wave goodbye to the puppy after we have gone past.

That way puppy not distracted but child thinks they are being friendly to puppy by gently waving

Children are usually better than adults who swoop so quickly esp when puppy is very young and esp cute

It is one of the hardest things as you need eyes in the back of your head sometimes to spot the swoopers

I agree with the fact that just get used to talking to everyone you see, and the most common question is how do you give it up and why does it have such a strange name

Our answer is when we see the difference a GD makes to their owner giving them freedom and independence that is why we do it, yes there will be lots of tears but also pleasure in knowing how the little puppy that they see now will hopefully change someone's life one day

With regard to timing, the process of assessments will take a while and checks etc and the right puppy to be born so it might be Octoberish

I don't remember how long the wait was before we got our 1st one but that was over 7 years ago and the allocation thingy has changed since then iirc

I agree also that the PWS will answer all of your questions if I or other PW don't know the answer

Did you ring them today?

What happened when you rang them?

Are they coming to see you?