Potential Owner - Need Reassurance

[kiratae]

I've read all of the messages to find out more about the Goldens. I've never owned one but I always admired them for their willingness to be friendly. I'm at a point in my life where I will need a service dog. I'm looking towards a Golden for this situation. The women in my family are blessed with both arthritis diseases. We end up with fused neck and back bones. Some of us have had our hip sockets replace and an assortment of other things. It usually hits us in our teens and slowly gets worse as we get older. I was lucky in that part but in the last 2 years it has been making up for lost time. I'm 49 years old now and after working all my life I have problems working at the simplest job. Now I also lose the use of my legs and of course, I find myself flat on my face. I have a cordless phone but I don't always have it with me or it's too high to get to even if I crawl to it. I don't mean to ramble on but I need to really know that I can really trust and depend on this dog. I don't want to get one of these dogs just because I know that they have been used as service dogs. This dog is going to be my life line. HELP!!

[johnwa]

Yes, golden retrievers can indeed be trained as service dogs! I assume from your thread that you are looking to get a golden retriever that is service dog, as opposed to just a pet. Is that correct? If yes, the dog must be specifically trained to perform the tasks that you require. Suggest that you get in touch with organizations that can give you some direction in this area. Our service dogs page contains links (right side of screen) to several different organizations.
<a href = "http://www.topgoldenretrieversites.net/tgrig.shtml" target="_blank">Service dogs page.</a><br>

[theGoldenPup]

I have a friend who does the puppy raising for assistance dogs and have spent quite a bit of time seeing the puppies turn into dogs. Goldens are well-known for this job, as are labradors (though MANY breeds have the responsibility!), and love the work. The downside to somone in your position looking into getting one of these dogs is that it can be a long, possibly costly process, though VERY worth it in the end. Depending on the organization you get a dog through, the golden would be at least two-three years old. Some organizations only require you pay for transportation to thier location, but for some you may have to pay part of the dog-cost. You will spend quite a bit of time at the location as they meet you and try pairing you with different dogs. When they find a dog that 'matches' with you, there is a lot of 'training' you have to go through to learn to work with the dog! The dog you will be with will be either specially trained to help someone similar to you, or you will get to help teach him some specific behaviors for you. The application process can take quite a bit of time as there aren't nearly enough people raising puppies and not all pass the basic tests (because of health or behavior), but that will give you time to learn more about dogs, different teaching methods, and be ready for a great partner!
Start looking into different groups and let us know how it goes!

GoldenPup

(Oh-while you research and wait, look up the service dog laws in your area and your state. You will need to know these as occasionally you may run into problems where people won't understand these laws very well)