training service dog that I can give to my poor and blind Japanese pal

February 26, 2018 5:45 PM

I wanna know if it's at all possible to train a dog to be able to "pass the test" to be a service dog, so I can give it to my blind Japanese friend. My friend's quality of life is severely impacted and she wants a service dog but they are expensive and have a years long wait list. I know it would be really hard to do train myself, but what all would it entail and which hoops would I have to jump through? Thanks.
posted by maxexam to Society & Culture (8 answers total)

A service dog in America or in Japan?

You could check in with local groups who do training and see if they’d have any suggestions.my friend used to train dogs when she was in college. I think it’s a popular place to do it because they have exposure to a lot of different scenarios. One of the difficulties they had (and why the wait list is so long) is that not every dog who is trained passes the service test. This may not matter for your friend or it may have reprocuasions- it depends on the needs of your friends and potentially where the dog is allowed into.

I believe pure bred labs or retriever puppies which are typical service dogs can run $600-$1000 Which is a starting cost to consider.
posted by raccoon409 at 6:05 PM on February 26, 2018

Response by poster: A service dog in Japan.
posted by maxexam at 6:05 PM on February 26, 2018

I know very little about training dogs, but I do know that this could be a bad idea for one reason: different countries/jurisdictions have different legislations and or rules pertaining to service animals and if you don’t follow them correctly, people can be denied services or permits for them.
posted by carabiner at 7:22 PM on February 26, 2018 [1 favorite]

This would be very difficult. Seeing eye dogs need specialized training that starts very early in life, and it takes a particular dog to be able to do it. I'd worry that the training wouldn't fully take and your friend and the dog would wind up in danger, like crossing a street they shouldn't be crossing. I'd recommend reaching out to guide dog groups nearby and seeing if there's anything they can do to help.

You're an awesome friend for wanting to get your friend a guide dog. Seriously. Awesome awesome friend. But I'm worried about all the ways this could go wrong.
posted by cmyk at 7:24 PM on February 26, 2018 [1 favorite]

Training a seeing eye dog is unfortunately not something you can do by yourself. In Japan dogs are trained at designated training centers by licensed trainers. It takes a year of training and passing a test (both presumably in Japanese) to become a trainer (source is this page, Japanese only) and even then that's to train dogs in general, not for one specific person so they can get a guide dog sooner or for less money.
Assuming your friend lives in Japan, I'd reach out to both the Japan Guide Dog Association and your home country's equivalent to explain the barriers your friend is experiencing to get a dog and see what they recommend.
posted by sacchan at 7:34 PM on February 26, 2018 [3 favorites]

I have raised a couple of guide dog puppies. I had them from when they were about 9 weeks old until about two years old, at which point they went to guide dog school which took about 5 months. The dogs I raised came through Guiding Eyes for the Blind. They only provide dogs for people in the US but do not charge for the dogs.

Having seen what they train the dogs to do there I believe it would be very hard for someone to duplicate this on their own. The trainers who do this are professional and work with each dog a couple of times a day for months on end. They have a series of increasingly difficult environments they work the dog through. In the end the dog learns "willful disobedience" so that when told to do something dangerous they disobey. I do not know how someone would be able to duplicate this process on their own.

The International Guide Dog Federation has a list of places that work with guide dogs in Japan. Perhaps you can find one to donate to or work with there?
posted by procrastination at 7:39 PM on February 26, 2018 [4 favorites]

I wanna know if it's at all possible to train a dog to be able to "pass the test" to be a service dog, so I can give it to my blind Japanese friend.

Short answer: Absolutely not, because that's not how it works, and don't even consider it unless you are a trained professional who trains guide dogs for a living.

but what all would it entail

Long answer: Guide dogs are socialized from an early age with an adoptive family or individual who are obligated to take them literally everywhere so they get used to chaotic, confusing, and noisy situations.

They are then taken from the adoptive family or individual and trained by people who are professionals who are highly skilled in the training of these dogs.

The dogs are then matched up with potential new owners. Part of the process involves making sure the person and the dog are good matches for each other. Sometimes owner and dog don't click.

Guide dog users undertake a significant amount of orientation and mobility training in order to effectively utilize the dog as a navigation aid. In effect, they become a highly skilled user of a carefully trained dog that is matched to them.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:09 PM on February 26, 2018 [5 favorites]

You'd be beetter off helping your friend get on the waitlist and/or helping crowdfund the financial resources necessary.
posted by TwoStride at 9:39 AM on February 27, 2018 [2 favorites]