Emsmith, I was thinking and thinking about your statement all night long, I was afraid you misunderstood me. Yes I am blind and my dog has been bred to do this job, generation after generation has been bred just to be guide dogs, so the thousands and thousands of dollars it cost for her to learn this job to me is priceless. But I am not saying that she is perfect. She has been trained not to bark, to ignore distractions and to work all day if need be. But she is also a dog, just last weekend I realized how true this was. I had to go away over night and could not take her, I just could not fine anyone who could come to the hospital enough to releave her enough and it was only a one night thing so she stayed with my dd. when I came home the next day and she came in and saw me, she did something to tell me how very upset with me she was, she walked all around the rug and then thankfully into the kitchen and peed all over the floor. She had never done anything like that before, but she was just a pet at the moment, she was not in harness. In harness this dog is perfect, she is attentive, she works hard and correct, she hops up when need be, speeds up on command, she listens to me and she is spot on. Off harness she is a dog, she runs around, she gets on beds, she has been known to climb on couch and look out window, she has also been known to do a flying keep up onto the recliner just when I nod of to sleep.
You do not need a dog with thousands of dollars of training, like you I pay nothing for my dog and many with a disability have to pay a lot. That is not the factor. If the dog is a dog off leash or off harness in my case that is not a factor. What is the factor is the persise training to be able to do a place like Disney, that is the important thing. I do know of people who train a dog the self and the law allows that, and the dog may be great around the house, or to the grocery store they visit every week, but that dog may not be capable to do Disney. Like I stated I have had three dog, all three went to Disney, land or world and all three gave me a different experience. Each had his/her pros or cons.
I guess what you need to determine like with my guide dogs, is have you had the dog long enough to actually build the best effective relationship between the dog and the handler. To me in your case that is tricky because the handler is a child, you did not say how old, but I am going to assume that not only the child but a parent must fully know the dog and be able to see the future, is the dog going to be spooked, is he about to run, is his paws burning, is he becoming skidish is he overwhelmed. If any of these, happen can you do something to stop it and what, how does it effect the child does it make him overwhelmed and worse. These are only questions you can determine, I our case my school would tell me not to go to Disney world for at least one year, but it could be totally different for you, I am blind so I can not see to make those determinations, so I have to rely on other things, like how hard my dog is pulling, or not pulling, and how does his paw feel because I can not see if it is cracked or bleeding. As sue said earlier to her it is if her daughter needs the dog, in my case yes, in her case no, in your case it seems to me that it is a yes/no. I think from what you say your grandson needs his dog at least some part of the day and most nights. I would start from there and build a plan, as said the kennels, when you are spending 6,000 or mor on a vacation, what is another $300 for the kennel each day, but budget it in now so it is there, skip a character meal if you have to or eat breakfast in the room each morning so you have the money. Well worth it to care for the dog and your grandsons needs. A great compromise, and the opportunity to test the waters, bring dog to the park once or twice to see how he does, make it a learning experience, just have a plan, if it does not work then what, who brings dog back, how do you do that??? Remember the dog is service for your grandson, so if you ride a Disney bus back your grandson has to be on the bus for the dog to go, ADA laws, how will that fret decision. If dog does well great bring him next day, again with plan.
At home if you are going to bring him start preparing him. I asked once how they prepare dogs for things like this and the trainer said, but the dog in a wagon and start and stop very short, that is stimulating a ride, bring him to fireworks to stimulate loud noises, bring him to stores and get him use to ignoring the crowds, bring him to the city streets during lunch hour, where mops of people will be walking in every direction. Bring him to country fairs and amusement parks. Everything in them will help you know what the dog may do in Disney.
I feel like I have taking over this post, sorry, I am writing to you and hopefully others who want to know. People see my dog in Disney and are in aw!! In my case yes my dog was bred in a room matched with just the right stud and her only purpose was to try to make a guide dog out of her from the moment of conception. And yes, I am grateful that she had 2 full years of intensive training before I recieved her and then another 28 days in locked dorms training with me, without any distractions and four trainers on duty 24/7.i am truly sorry other disabled do not have that, and I am shocked at how much some have to pay for there dog. And I am not saying this is your case but many I know just train there own. I am not saying you can not bring any of these dogs to Disney, but I am saying please have a great plan, and please he'd the warnings that you must put in some efforts to get the dog prepared. And again and again and again have a plan as to what if and have the money ready for the kennel if need be. And please that is for anyone not just you. And believe me, me dog has all and everything that you can come across in her training and she has difficulty in Disney. It does not matter how much training, it matters how much you plan. It is like taking a child to see Santa, you are all excited you think your child will be, you dress them up, you may even have baby sit on daddy Santa's lap. But when you get there you get a picture of a screaming crying child who looks scared to death of Santa. You don't want to be in Disney without a plan when the dog is scared to death and can not work effectively.part of training has to be to prepare a plan.
You do not need a dog with thousands of dollars of training, like you I pay nothing for my dog and many with a disability have to pay a lot. That is not the factor. If the dog is a dog off leash or off harness in my case that is not a factor. What is the factor is the persise training to be able to do a place like Disney, that is the important thing. I do know of people who train a dog the self and the law allows that, and the dog may be great around the house, or to the grocery store they visit every week, but that dog may not be capable to do Disney. Like I stated I have had three dog, all three went to Disney, land or world and all three gave me a different experience. Each had his/her pros or cons.
I guess what you need to determine like with my guide dogs, is have you had the dog long enough to actually build the best effective relationship between the dog and the handler. To me in your case that is tricky because the handler is a child, you did not say how old, but I am going to assume that not only the child but a parent must fully know the dog and be able to see the future, is the dog going to be spooked, is he about to run, is his paws burning, is he becoming skidish is he overwhelmed. If any of these, happen can you do something to stop it and what, how does it effect the child does it make him overwhelmed and worse. These are only questions you can determine, I our case my school would tell me not to go to Disney world for at least one year, but it could be totally different for you, I am blind so I can not see to make those determinations, so I have to rely on other things, like how hard my dog is pulling, or not pulling, and how does his paw feel because I can not see if it is cracked or bleeding. As sue said earlier to her it is if her daughter needs the dog, in my case yes, in her case no, in your case it seems to me that it is a yes/no. I think from what you say your grandson needs his dog at least some part of the day and most nights. I would start from there and build a plan, as said the kennels, when you are spending 6,000 or mor on a vacation, what is another $300 for the kennel each day, but budget it in now so it is there, skip a character meal if you have to or eat breakfast in the room each morning so you have the money. Well worth it to care for the dog and your grandsons needs. A great compromise, and the opportunity to test the waters, bring dog to the park once or twice to see how he does, make it a learning experience, just have a plan, if it does not work then what, who brings dog back, how do you do that??? Remember the dog is service for your grandson, so if you ride a Disney bus back your grandson has to be on the bus for the dog to go, ADA laws, how will that fret decision. If dog does well great bring him next day, again with plan.
At home if you are going to bring him start preparing him. I asked once how they prepare dogs for things like this and the trainer said, but the dog in a wagon and start and stop very short, that is stimulating a ride, bring him to fireworks to stimulate loud noises, bring him to stores and get him use to ignoring the crowds, bring him to the city streets during lunch hour, where mops of people will be walking in every direction. Bring him to country fairs and amusement parks. Everything in them will help you know what the dog may do in Disney.
I feel like I have taking over this post, sorry, I am writing to you and hopefully others who want to know. People see my dog in Disney and are in aw!! In my case yes my dog was bred in a room matched with just the right stud and her only purpose was to try to make a guide dog out of her from the moment of conception. And yes, I am grateful that she had 2 full years of intensive training before I recieved her and then another 28 days in locked dorms training with me, without any distractions and four trainers on duty 24/7.i am truly sorry other disabled do not have that, and I am shocked at how much some have to pay for there dog. And I am not saying this is your case but many I know just train there own. I am not saying you can not bring any of these dogs to Disney, but I am saying please have a great plan, and please he'd the warnings that you must put in some efforts to get the dog prepared. And again and again and again have a plan as to what if and have the money ready for the kennel if need be. And please that is for anyone not just you. And believe me, me dog has all and everything that you can come across in her training and she has difficulty in Disney. It does not matter how much training, it matters how much you plan. It is like taking a child to see Santa, you are all excited you think your child will be, you dress them up, you may even have baby sit on daddy Santa's lap. But when you get there you get a picture of a screaming crying child who looks scared to death of Santa. You don't want to be in Disney without a plan when the dog is scared to death and can not work effectively.part of training has to be to prepare a plan.