Guide Dogs on BBC Alba

Just watched the third part of a really interesting series on Working Dogs on BBC Alba (all in gaelic, but it does have subtitles ).

This week was Guide Dogs. It showed a number of GSDs and one of the Guide Dog Trainers at the Dog Training Centre, Forfar said that GSDs are becoming more popular as a guide dog.

Interesting.

Do you know Pathfinders in Scotland Moobli who train only GSD guide dogs.

Pathfinders are superb. They also feed their dogs raw and the charity wants to remain small and personal. They keep the pups with walkers until they go for training when they go and live with the trainer. We seriously considered puppy walking for them. Was very impressed with everything about them.

Guide dogs started out with GSDs. Their favoured dog is still a lab x gr. At one point they had trouble breeding GSDs as the
matings failed. The GSD x Gr we walked has just died aged 7 of cancer.
I will say no more about guide dogs.

I found Pathfinders website quite by accident a couple of years or so ago.

For those who might be interested

http://pathfinderdogs.org/Home.php

Taken from their website ...

<< at one time the German Shepherd Dog was the breed chosen exclusively to be used as a the first guide dog. In recent years, Labradors and Golden Retrievers have been more widely used for this work, although there are still German Shepherds being trained throughout the world. Pathfinder Dogs believe the German Shepherd is still the ultimate breed for the job. A versatile breed, they excel in this field due to their strong sense of duty and strong work ethic, their mental abilities, their fearlessness, and their attachment and loyalty to their owner.>>

I have no doubt that the right type of GSD would make an ideal guide dog (and there were three shown on the programme last night bred by GDBA in England). However, I would imagine they have to choose their breeders and individual pups very carefully (as I assume Pathfinders don't have their own breeding scheme?).

Can visually impaired people who qualify for a dog get a choice of breed from GDBA?
Or could they choose to get a dog from Pathfinders?

(Sorry but I am completely ignorant on how these things work).

Do Pathfinders have a centre where they train their dogs, or is it all done in the trainer's home?

I see they only train up two dogs a year at the moment.

They don't have a centre at the moment because they believe dogs need to live in the environment they will have at home. I believe they intend to build a village where their dogs will be trained & new owners trained with their dogs & when & if they achieve this they will start their own breeding programme. I met Anne last year at the British Sieger & fell in love with her big hairy dog. I was really impressed with their ethos & their dogs & hope they go from strength to strength.
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They do ask if you've got a preference, but they seem to have an issue with giving gsds to people as their first dog, as I discovered, even though I was told I was the right kind of owner/handler for one(whatever that means).

The gsds I've met all seem to have a lovely attitude towards work, I certainly won't accept no for a second time, assuming I stick with GDBA, path finders has certainly got my interest.

I love my boy, but he's on his final strike I'm afraid.

They offer a preference Kirsty but it isn't ideal, the owner isn't necessarily experienced enough to know the right breed for them.
Pathfinders are amazing and want to stay small. Fascinating ti talk to and I still wouldn't totally rule out puppy walking for them. They are fab on so many levels.

Guide dogs however, seem to be getting worse.

One of the reasons that GSD are not so popular as they used to be for Guide Dogs is their length of stride, they are longer generally than GR or LR and have a longer stride which does not suit all handlers.

there are other reasons of course.

That all sounds fantastic. I do hope the charity can realise its long-term goals.