Hello! This is Angus MacLeod Cornick. Today I’m an honorary Word Wench as Nicola has turned her blog spot over to me to tell you about how I train service dogs for the UK Guide Dogs Association. It’s a demanding job but I like to feel I do my bit to help and my fee of one special dog treat per day is, I think, very reasonable. Earlier this year I qualified as an official Guide Dogs supporter dog, a role usually reserved for retired or failed guide dogs – Nicola was very proud of me! The exam was arduous - I had to remain calm and steady in all sorts of situations, from small children approaching me to other dogs barking at me. This was okay as my natural state is to sleep a large part of the time.
My life as a service dog mentor began a couple of years ago when my blissful experience of being a spoiled only dog came to an abrupt halt. I should have spotted the warning signs but I was young and naïve. I thought that when a “luxury indoor kennel” appeared full of cuddly toys my humans were trying to curry favour with me. Little did I realise it was for someone else.
Then this arrived. It was small, it was fluffy, it wasn’t house trained and it followed me around all the time and tried to sleep on 
top of me or underneath me or just generally next to me. I thought it would go away but it stayed. And stayed. Its name was Ethel and it was a girl.
The humans explained that it was something called a “service dog” and was going to grow up to be a guide dog that would be trained to help blind or partially-sighted people, leading them across roads, taking them to the shops and on buses and trains. Frankly I couldn’t see what was special about these puppies. I can lead people across the road (although I do get distracted if I catch the scent of something interesting) and I’m sure I’d be great at finding food in the supermarket only they won’t let me try.
Anyway, Nicola told me that alongside her guide dog training, Ethel also needed to learn dog etiquette and that was where I came in. There were several strands to her education. First there was how to behave around other dogs: Don’t try to steal their food, don’t pester them if they don’t want to play and Top Dog (me) always gets toys and treats first. Ethel was quite a slow learner at this but eventually I trained her not to rush up to every other dog she met and jump all over them, to wait politely whilst I inspected her toys and to show respect for a senior dog. The humans did have a part in this training too, of course, but I took the lead. When she headed off to Advanced Training School I thought I had done a pretty good job and prepared to relax back into my life as an only dog extracting every possible privilege from my humans to make up for a year of hard work.
Alas! My peaceful life was not to last. A terrible thing happened; out came the luxury indoor kennel again, and this time I knew what it meant. Lucy arrived, and it all started all over again! You can see from the picture how pleased I was to see her!
Lucy didn't bark as much as Ethel did, which was great, but on the other hand she wasn't good at sleeping, which is a top requirement for a dog. I tried to explain to her that sleep is what dogs do for a large part of the time but she still hasn't really got it. She's far too active. Apparently she's very good when she's working though - it's the "settling" she just can't do.
My favourite aspect of the puppy training is teaching them how to retrieve. Nicola explained that they don’t 
need to be able to do this to be guide dogs but it’s part of their general obedience training. However, they are hopeless at it. Apparently it’s because they are bred especially to be guide dogs whereas I was bred specially to retrieve stuff and I frequently find all sorts of lost things, from watches and phones to money and crockery. It’s my super power! However Ethel never got the hang of it and Lucy, my current trainee, has finally learned to find things but hasn’t got the second part, which is to bring them back. Like I say: Hopeless.
Occasionally I have been accused of leading the puppies astray. An incident of food theft was cited but that was just a misunderstanding. However, I have taught Lucy to swim on the basis that she doesn’t lead her owner into water unless they have specifically asked her to. Okay, I’ll admit it; there are times when I like to play and it’s fun to have a dog companion to go for walks with and show the ropes. When Lucy is doing obedience training I join in because it means extra biscuit rewards. I was the one who taught her how to sit and lie down because she copies everything I do. So there are compensations. However, when she goes off to guide dog school I’ll be hiding that luxury indoor kennel before it can get another occupant!
Finally I also give the puppies some special advice that was imparted to me by my predecessor pet dog, now known as the Sainted Monty. This is advice on how to manage your human, which is the other essential part of training for any dog.
“You are a service dog but you are also a Labrador Retriever. This is crucially important with regard to issues such as food. Humans 
believe you should eat a “nourishing complete dog food”. It is important to disabuse them of this belief as soon as possible. I would suggest refusing to eat it, looking sad and my particular favourite:- eating bits of dried food off the floor. This is particularly effective if the human has guests. They will feel embarrassed that their friends think that they are mistreating you.
Training is vital. Begin a structured training program with your owner as soon as possible. It works like this. Every interaction with your owner is an opportunity to be given a treat. Refuse to do anything you are asked until the human “obeys” you and gives you a treat. Don’t fall for being given dried food (see earlier note); we are talking about steak, sausages and chicken. 
Remember we are dogs and we have no shame. Hope this helps, good luck.”
I've found Monty's advice invaluable and taken together with my own brand of teaching it means that our puppies go out into the world fully trained in how to manage humans and relate to other dogs alongside their formal guide dog training. Lucy will be with a while longer (sigh!) so there's plenty of time for me to teach her how to be a proper dog as well as an assistance dog!
I hope you've enjoyed Angus's description of how he trains the guide dog puppies. He's very happy to take any questions and wonders if you have any tips for him on how to improve his training?
