Formal Training
The dogs are recalled for formal training at one of Guide Dogs for the Blind's campuses at approximately 14 to 18 months old. Recalled dogs go through formal training, a 8-phase training program in which the trainers use the BEST Guide Dogs training techniques ("BEST Guide Dogs -- Balanced Education System for Training Guide Dogs"). The dogs are continuously assessed during the formal training and may be dropped from the program ("career changed") at any stage (including during their time with the puppy raisers if intractable health or behavior problems emerge). Trained dogs are then matched with appropriate visually impaired individuals who train with the dog at the school's in-residence program for up to four weeks.
Read more about this topic: Guide Dogs For The Blind
Famous quotes containing the words formal and/or training:
“The formal Washington dinner party has all the spontaneity of a Japanese imperial funeral.”
—Simon Hoggart (b. 1946)
“The area [of toilet training] is one where a child really does possess the power to defy. Strong pressure leads to a powerful struggle. The issue then is not toilet training but who holds the reins—mother or child? And the child has most of the ammunition!”
—Dorothy Corkville Briggs (20th century)