Arizona guide dog programs

If you seek a career that is demanding yet fun, offers growth, and allows you to see the results of your efforts, consider joining us. If you can't access the online application, please send us your cover letter and resume by e-mail to [email protected]. More than 2, puppy raisers volunteer to help raise puppies that will go on to become guide dogs.

If you enjoy both people and dogs, you will find our work interesting and varied, with something new happening all the time. Every day is different and offers deep meaning as you have direct impact on how we take care of the dogs and people who participate in our programs.

Our collaborative environment thrives on innovation and encourages learning and growth. GDB is an organization that works hard to help everyone be successful. We are a tight-knit group, and you will enjoy working with people who are passionate and invested in your success. You can also participate in media, provide training workshops, and awareness-building efforts for GDB. Additional opportunities on this team include working with our volunteers, overseeing dog placement, coordinating programs, and managing operations in areas such as breeding, reproduction, and puppy socialization.

Many are unique to our organization — and all offer satisfying challenge. When the researchers tracked the puppies a couple of years down the line, they found that those with mothers that were more attentive were less likely to graduate from The Seeing Eye's training program to become guide dogs. In particular, those dogs whose mothers nursed more often lying down, as opposed to sitting or standing up, were less likely to succeed.

The study also found that dogs' cognition and temperament were associated with program success or failure. The researchers conducted a second part of the study after the puppies had gone to live with foster families and then returned to The Seeing Eye for specific guide-dog training.

The dogs — at this point young adults at 14 to 17 months old — were given tests to measure their cognition and temperament. A test of cognitive problem-solving skills, for example, involved a game in which the dog has to perform a multistep task to reach a treat.

Tests of temperament included observing the dogs' reactions, such as how long they took to bark at an umbrella being opened or how they reacted when they entered a room with a mechanical cat they had never seen before.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, dogs that did well at the problem-solving tasks and took longer to bark at novel objects were more likely to succeed in the guide-dog-training program. Although Bray's work underscores the connection between maternal behavior and offspring's behavior later in life, further research is needed to tease out exactly why the attentive mothers were more likely to have puppies that were released from the program, and whether or not genetics could be a factor.

The study is based on work Bray did as a student at the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned her doctorate in psychology in May. Trending Stories. University of Arizona in the News. Service Dogs provide greater independence, joy, fulfillment, confidence, security, and love. Our service dogs are trained to help individuals who have a wide range of disabilities.

The Canine Partners for Life service dog program spends two years preparing each dog for its working life. Each CPL service dog spends their first year of training learning basic obedience and being socialized in public. The second year of training is focused on more advanced service skills.

It is also during the second year when each CPL dog will be tested to determine whether they have the innate ability to alert to medical conditions. In order for a CPL dog to go through the full training program, they must be innately physically sound, temperamentally stable, happy working partners. Great care is taken to select only the most appropriate dogs for this level of work, but a few common dog breeds are more likely to carry the characteristics required in a service dog.

CPL dogs come from three sources — our own small breeding program, donated puppies from responsible breeders, and occasionally from shelters or rescues. Labs make great service dogs due to their innate loyalty, trainability and size. Labrador retrievers are also extremely adaptable, meaning they are flexible to many different lifestyles. Their steady temperament prepares them to handle obstacles and crises with a calm demeanor and reliable response.

Golden retrievers are extremely loyal, highly intelligent, and easy to train for a variety of tasks.