Looking for a GSD to be a service dog for a friend - Page 3

My comment was to back up whoever said (was it SM?) that they're getting crazy requests lately for service dogs, right and left. I've had them too. I get long sob stories from people who sound b.s.c, in need of a totally different kind of help! LOL.  I've had "agencies" asking me to donate puppies and young dogs. I had a person bragging to me that their friend was able to quit their job and focus on "service" dogs because people donate them or sell them cheaply, out of generosity, and then people with genuine need pay an arm and a leg for them.   And no...this person was not doing the extensive training themselves. It's the next big fraud- whatever good thing people come up with, you've got a bunch of losers waiting to exploit it!!!

Most of my dogs are too much for service work with a severely handicapped person, but would do ok with someone active that just needed assistance or some type of medical alert. The one I mentioned previously is in a family with a lot of dog experience w/stock dogs, so a very capable handler is in charge of the dog and child team. It's not just about greed when a breeder won't give away a dog to a service home. You have to look at the lifestyle and whether the dog would enjoy it, too. My first duty is to my dogs, then to the buyer if it's a match. 
 

You have to look at the lifestyle and whether the dog would enjoy it, too. My first duty is to my dogs, then to the buyer if it's a match. 

Amen, Jenni, amen! 

BECAUSE Marjorie is Marjorie, she really ought to have seen those remarks
coming, when she posted more about colour preference than appropriate service
​aptitudes.

However, in her defence, she has had a lousy and stressful year with her own dogs
and got out of the habit of posting here, and maybe the wording of her OP reflects that.

I'm still chuckling at the fact nobody picked up on the request for a MALE ... and the
first (only, so far) dog offered is Maya, a female.

http://shepherdhelp.org/
https://www.facebook.com/Shepherdhelp
 

I picked that up, Hundmutter. I also saw that the OP was months old and yet people piled on anyway...that's why my response was more directed at/supporting the statement about the rampant abuse of the term that seems to be going on. 

Uh oh. .  . I think I may need to break out a unicycle to do some much needed backpedaling.   When I post from my phone, I do not see people's avatars (or even how many posts they have contributed) and it just didn't register as the same Marjorie.  When I saw Hexe's, Kitkat's and Handmutter's posts, I knew I was in trouble.  When I finally logged in from my computer and saw Majorie's avatar, I slapped my hand on my forehead!  I immediately recognized it.  It would also have helped if I had read her second paragraph more carefully.   Hexe, your points are extremely well argued!  It's hard to contest any of them.  My only defense is that I initially took this to one of those offhanded posts that we see on here so often from just a casual poster.  The wording contributed that perception.  I hear SO many stories exactly like Jenni78's and SitasMom's that I just kind of reacted with those stories in mind.   Handmutter said it best that the wording was "more about color preference than appropriate service aptitudes,"  but ALSO identified WHY the wording may have been a little off, and that is certainly understandable given Marjorie's circumstances.  Again, my apologies.   Thanks for everybody's informative posts to shed light on the situation.         

I'm sure anyone can understand you posted in response to the actual written words, not the context and didn't take the poster into account. We've all done it! Merry Christmas, PA K9!

Thanks Jenni!  BTW--I love your posts-- been reading them for years. You have a Merry Christmas too!

The last "service dog" I placed (6 months ago) was for a sweet little girl with seizures (family of first time dog owners). The family came for visit 4 times and their interactions were closely watched by me and also a behaviorist. Interactions were monitored here and also in public places. The cost of the dog was the cost of the spay. We keep in close communication and just received a Christmas Card.......lovely family.

The little girl works with the dog every day, she goes for walks and plays with the dog (supervised by at least one parent), and her health and coordination is much improved. She has a new confidence and pride of ownership in her life and its also helping her to deal with being different.

The behaviorist has made two visits, to help work out a few rough spots, which has made this adoption "perfect".