Puppy raisers are expected to fill out evaluations on their puppies 5 times over the course of having the pup. You'd think that with over 200 puppies on program, PuppyLand HQ would be awash in evaluations. Sadly, this is not the case. Currently, less than 50% of puppy raisers turn in all of the required evaluations.
I think I may know the reason. I'm often asked "who reads these things?" I have a sneaky feeling that a lot of raisers think the evals are filed away, never to see the light of day again.
Let me emphatically tell you that is not the case. The evaluations you fill out play a very important part in the dog's training, not only while in the puppy program, but once the dog goes IFT as well. Each evaluation is reviewed by both the Area Coordinator and Puppy Raising Services staff to make sure that the puppy is progressing well and there are no serious problems or issues. Once the dog is IFT, trainers read the evaluations for each dog when they start their new string. This gives the trainers an idea of any behavior or exposure issues that may need to be addressed. It also provides a history of behaviors and exposures that are very helpful when assessing the dog.
Another misperception may be that we use these forms to evaluate the puppy raiser. Not true! We use a completely different form for that...... Kidding!! Only kidding.
Please be as honest as possible on these evals. And if you're not sure if you should be concerned about something - include it on the evaluation. We're here to help and we want to provide guidance and suggestions for helping correct inappropriate behavior.
Evaluations are a valuable tool in the process of creating guide dogs. Please do your part to help train the best guide dogs possible.
2 comments:
Thank you for clearing up the mystery of "What happens to our evaluations?" As an AC, I always try to focus on any issues I see on the evals, however, it is so reassuring to know that Puppy Raising Services is there to help the Raiser as well as the AC if any problems arise. Thank you for helping us to raise The Best Guide Dog Candidate possible.
Donna
As a graduate, I greatly appreciate not only what the puppy department does with the evaluations, but how the training department is able to use them as well and that helps in creating a well behaved working guide dog
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