Africa/ " service" Dog mauls girl, 4, in mall

[responsiblek9]

http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/2011/07/17/dog-mauls-girl-4-in-mall
Times LIVE - Toby Shapshak - ‎4 hours ago‎
Sadie Kukkuk, 4, was having lunch with her grandparents at JB River's restaurant at the table next to Lech and his canine friend which he claimed, after the incident, was a "service dog" . Security camera footage shows the rottweiler launching forward, ...

[Amber]

Oh.  Wow.  Me. Angry.

"I saw it with periphery vision because my head is tilted, correct."

Huh?  Is it just me, or does this guy not make sense?

[responsiblek9]

  Dog was obviously NOT under the handler's control..  I mean standing there with a leash and doing NOTHING?? Yikes!!!

[Kirsten]

"As indicated on my website I am a supplier member of the US Service Dog Registry and the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners (IAADP)."
http://the dogshamanblog.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/a-victory-for-people-with-disabilities/ (link intentionally broken, remove space)

This is a great example of what is easily achievable. I’m currently in discussions with a shelter organization that I will be personally re-formatting and designing. The one project in the pipeline is that within 24 months, some of the shelter dogs will be trained up as service dogs to help:

Physically disabled (Wheel chairs, crutches, missing limbs)
Diabetic dogs
Seizure alert dogs
Allergy alert dogs
ADHD focus dogs
Psychiatric dogs
Therapy dogs
These dogs shall be rolled out into the public domain to assist children and adults so that they can function a normal life.

http://the dogshamanblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/which-breed-is-the-smartest-and-best-and-pure-breed-vs-shelter/

[Angie]

Is it just me or do dog trainers love using the whole "service dog" thing to gain more attention to themselves in public places. I feel like I keep seeing dog trainers attempting to train these dogs when they know nothing about either the SD or being disabled.

I always feel like they focus on the dog first and person last. So you can get a bunch of shelter dogs cuz they are smart, or pitbulls that can be rehabiliated...yay! Look at what these dogs can do. Look at what I did.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to function safely with a dog that was properly trained for my needs. Not to parade around as an ego stroker for someone.

If you know nothing of what it is like to use a wheelchair, I don't want you training a dog for me.
 
I'm starting to think all SD trainers need to go to school to learn about not only the dogs, but disability too.

[Spectrum]

I'm starting to think all SD trainers need to go to school to learn about not only the dogs, but disability too.

Bergin's service dog seminar requires participants to play the parts of someone in a wheelchair 24/7 for a couple weeks. They live in the doorms, use an already trained SD, and are to use a wheelchair for mobility and basically live as if they actually needed the dog and the wheelchair.

[fledchen]

Oh.  Wow.  Me. Angry.

"I saw it with periphery vision because my head is tilted, correct."

Huh?  Is it just me, or does this guy not make sense?

The last word is a verbal tic common in some dialects of English. It's an interjection/tag question used to confirm the continued attention of the listener.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_tag_questions

[Amber]

Like "eh?" or "right?"  I get that part, and the fact that he doesn't speak English the best.  I could care less, I use tags often, but the part that doesn't make sense is that the video camera "saw" something different from him because he saw it in his periphery vision with his head tilted.  What does that have to do with a camera catching something wrong?  Would make me believe the camera more than the guy who saw it out of the corner of his eye.

[FrostedAcres]

"describes himself as a "healer" and "shaman in the realm of dogs".

 Physician, heal thyself.

[Smithcat]

I'm starting to think all SD trainers need to go to school to learn about not only the dogs, but disability too.

Bergin's service dog seminar requires participants to play the parts of someone in a wheelchair 24/7 for a couple weeks. They live in the doorms, use an already trained SD, and are to use a wheelchair for mobility and basically live as if they actually needed the dog and the wheelchair.

All of the trainers at GDB must live for a week blindfolded and use a guide dog before they are certified by GDB as a guide dog trainer. They are not allowed to remove the blindfold for ANYTHING for the entire week. Gives them the proper perspective as to what it is all about.

[HumSD]

"Rehabilitated dog" was a phrase used to describe the dog in question.  Does that been it had an aggressive past or was abused? If it had been aggressive in the past, it should NOT be a service dog!

I don't want to sound cynical here but it sounds like this guy is trying to be like Cesar Milan and claiming to be disabled and use of his rehabbed dogs as a SD. He could legitimately be disabled as could Cesar. We just don't know but legit disability or not, that dog needs to be pulled from public work.

[Kirsten]

Cesar has withdrawn his claim of disability.  You can't find it mentioned anywhere on his site.  He also back pedaled on the blog story and said it was all a mistake, that someone else had posted it while he was out of town.

[HumSD]

Cesar has withdrawn his claim of disability.  You can't find it mentioned anywhere on his site.  He also back pedaled on the blog story and said it was all a mistake, that someone else had posted it while he was out of town.

I knew the blog story was yanked but I didn't know he withdrew his claim of disability.  I guess Junior will no longer be tooted as his SDIT.  Still sounds like this guy in Africa is trying to mimic Cesar and using an unsuitable dog as a SD.

[Angie]

I'm starting to think all SD trainers need to go to school to learn about not only the dogs, but disability too.

Bergin's service dog seminar requires participants to play the parts of someone in a wheelchair 24/7 for a couple weeks. They live in the doorms, use an already trained SD, and are to use a wheelchair for mobility and basically live as if they actually needed the dog and the wheelchair.

Yeah, all students in the program go through a mock boot camp. They must be in a chair AT ALL TIMES and even at times are not allowed to use arms either. As in duct tape your arms down, lol. They get paired with only partially or untrained dogs, not full SDs. Its the dogs they will be training during the program for clients. So that makes it even HARDER cuz you have a partially trained young dog to work with AND are new at using a chair.

I enjoyed the stories from the student trainers about going thru the mock boot camp in the beginning of their schooling and how hard it was to work with my dog who was not fully trained and learn how to use a chair at the same time. (I've had 2 dogs from Bergin, including my current one).

Sometimes I can't figure out why they are having such a hard time trying to open a door from a chair. And then I realize how hard it is to be  a noob chair user! Poor things. And they get put on the fast track too. Trying to figure out how to navigate the world from a chair in 2 weeks is not an easy task for sure.

Smithcat, GDB does it correctly. As I'm sure the other guide dog schools do as well. Even the legit service dogs school apprentice their trainers. You can't just jump into training SDs when you know nothing of what it is like to function with a disability for which you are training a dog for.

And it burns me when people attempt to train dogs as SDs that are just using it to further their cause, or to advertise in public or just as a PR thing. Theres a place up in Sacramento somewhere using "rehabilitated" and rescued pitbulls as service dogs. They are a pit group...always at the state capital and stuff advocating for pits. Dragging them around in public as SD "ambassadors" for the breed. It drives me NUTS! Legit SD users want an unobtrusive dog that isn't going to make their lives harder.

I'm just now starting to believe that dog trainers advertising or wanting to train SDs for people need to have a seperate SD training degree or equivalent experience by apprenticing thru a LEGIT SD school. Just because you can train a dog to pick up my keys does not mean that it is a great SD and you know what it is all about.

Craziness.

[fledchen]

You can't just jump into training SDs when you know nothing of what it is like to function with a disability for which you are training a dog for.

That may be why it's so hard to find a good program for less tangible and visible disabilities. It's a lot easier to simulate blindness, deafness, and mobility impairment than it is to simulate a mental illness or neurological difference. There's no autistic equivalent to a blindfold.