# Seeing Eye - GSD?



## Rangers-mom (Jan 28, 2013)

I just adopted the GSD that we were raising for the Seeing Eye. We got him from the Seeing Eye breeding facility in Morristown, NJ when he was 7 weeks old. I know that the Seeing Eye breeds for temperament and health. I am sure they don't breed for breed standard. I know that they have extensive records about his parents, grandparents etc.., but other than that i don't know anything about the GSDs that come out of their breeding facility. Does anyone else have an x-Seeing Eye pup? Can any of you tell me what you know about their pedigree? Is he American, european? I don't even know what that means because i really know nothing about GSDs except that my GSD is a sweetie.

Thanks, 
Robin (mom to Ranger almost 9 months old)


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

did he not pass for some reason?


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

If you could post his pedigree there might be someone who is more familar with his lineage than with the actual breeding facility.


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## Rangers-mom (Jan 28, 2013)

He was removed from the program because he is very afraid of street grates. A lot of dogs are dropped from the program because of all sorts of things. 

I am looking back at my original post and i suppose that pedigree is not the correct term since I am sure that the Seeing Eye does not register any of their dogs. I am not sure where their breeding program would fit into this board. Their dogs are german shepherds and they are carefully bred for temperament and health. They are not exactly pet dogs but not exactly working dogs either (as sociability is extremely important to their breeding.) perhaps i should be posting on another section of the forum?

Thanks,
Robin


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

They aren't purebreds? Are they AKC registered?


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

oh I do know that -- dogs are culled from service , very decisive in the decisions -- I thought it might have been an orthopedic problem .
Oh they are WORKING dogs . Pedigree could be generations of in-house breeding , before you get back to a familiar name . That does not mean the dogs are unkown to the facility as they keep very detailed records on all related dogs in the effort to increasing success ratios.
The dogs likely are not registered with AKC -- but are entered in to a private registry where they track and document their own dogs.
I suppose when you were allowed to adopt the dog you were required to spay/neuter .


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

Moderator MaggieRoseLee had a wonderful girl from there, I believe.
ETA - I let her know about the thread, I bet she will stop in when she gets the chance!


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## Rangers-mom (Jan 28, 2013)

Lilie, i don't have his "pedigree". To be honest it really isn't important to me. I know that the seeing eye has been in existence since 1929. I am not sure how long they have been breeding their own dogs. I do know that their puppy raising program started in 1942, so i would guess they were breeding their own dogs then.

I know when i took him to the vet she said she could always tell a Seeing Eye dog from other dogs. I actually didn't ask her for an explanation, but it leads me to believe that their is something a little different about their breeding in general.

As i said, perhaps i should post on another section of the forum?


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

they would have a fairly consistent uniform body-type , size range . 
I guess this means you have a pretty good pet , and that would eliminate you from being a raiser again?


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Rangers Mom - certainly no problem not knowing the pedigree. I know nothing about the program you wrote about, I was attempting to keep this thread bumped up. I was hoping others who are much more knowledgable than I would pop in!!! Very interesting!!


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## Rangers-mom (Jan 28, 2013)

He went to the seeing eye facility for an evaluation and when he was dropped from the program they neutered him. So i didn't have to deal with neutering him - bonus.

Thanks for the info. Working dog makes sense. He is probably just bred to be more social than most working dogs. My biggest job as a puppy raiser was to expose him to all sorts of people and places. I was supposed to make him feel comfortable in almost any situation - a lot of dogs fail this mission, LOL.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Hello, from a fellow puppy raiser turned adopter. I adopted my now 9 yr old GSD from leader dogs for the blind. Unless you talk to someone directly in the program, you likely won't have any luck with lines. These organizations sometimes breed to outside sires, but usually they establish their own breeding and it continues for decades. So whatever lines they may have originated from may be nothing like the dogs are 40 years later.

To answer some of the other questions from people - yes they are breeding purebred GSDs but they have no use or interest in registering them with AKC. No it does not mean you can't raise another dog as a puppy raiser. I had two pet dogs when I raised mine. She was washed at 1 yr when they did mandatory hip rays. She has mild hip dysplasia in both hips. 


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Congrats on your new puppy!! Older puppies that are dropped from the service dog programs (like the Seeing Eye or Canine Companions for Independence) make AWESOME pets!!

My friend raised Goldens for CCI. Her second one ended up with allergies and so was dumped and she adopted him. Didn't keep her from continuing to raise puppies for them. 

How about posting some pictures??


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Rangers-mom said:


> Is he American, european? I don't even know what that means because i really know nothing about GSDs except that my GSD is a sweetie.


I would classify him as American bred but not American Show lines. Since the Seeing Eye has established their own breeding lines he really doesn't fit in the usually categories.

I'm guessing, without seeing a picture, that he's on the smaller side, very square and has a very straight and level topline.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

The standards are VERY high to make it thru the program so many dogs don't pass for many different reasons.

I did have my Elsa Rose from the Seeing Eye and they are GREAT dogs! They have a closed breeding program with their own breeders and a geneticist on staff. So while they DO go to responsible breeders when they have to add a new dog(s) to their program to add some fresh blood occasionally. Generally they use their own dogs so don't bother with the expense and paperwork to register with another organization like the AKC. They absolutely keep track of each and every dog with more health checks/x-rays than most regular breeders could ever afford though . So they'd have a pedigree for each and every dog though don't bother handing it out cause it would be meaningless to anyone except those in the Seeing Eye except for the dogs they take into the program from the outside.

They do NOT breed for anything but health and temperment so the dogs tend to be nice and straight backed, black and tan, and a bit on the smaller side of the standard so it's easier for the person they are guiding to fit dog/hander around in the world. I know right after I got my Elsa Rose they added a few GSD's from Europe that were from the German Showlines and actually (I believe) either Seiger winners or Champs or along those lines. 










I always recommend these dogs for people looking for an older GSD. They are 100% honest with everything about the dog, know everything about it since birth, they've been socialized in families and if there is an issue will always take the dog back. So it's like a rescue but chances are you know WAY more about the dog, good and bad. 

I got Elsa KNOWING she had mega-esophagus because they are so on top of the health of all their dogs (and clearly are working on getting health issues like this out of the lines). But I had their support even AFTER I took her so was confident about taking her and was blessed that I did


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## Rangers-mom (Jan 28, 2013)

Ranger looks just like Elsa Rose, maybe they are related. Was Elsa Rose her Seeing Eye name or did you rename her? There was a Rambo in Ranger's litter. I am sure glad i didn't get him. I have discovered that people are afraid of german shepherds so i wouldn't want the added problem of a scary name.

We just adopted Ranger last week, but we have had him since he was 7 weeks old. When he wasn't "ours" i really wasn't that interested in learning much about GSDs. I guess it was my way of keeping my distance since we wouldn't be keeping him. Still i love the breed now. He is an amazingly sweet dog.


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## Rangers-mom (Jan 28, 2013)

Hi fellow puppy raiser! It was so much fun i must admit that i am torn between wanting him to have remained in the program and wanting to have him as part of our family forever. We have another dog (11 yo Australian Shepherd) so we will wait until we are down to one again before we raise another puppy. The Seeing Eye was wonderful though. They said we would be right up to the front of the list to raise another if we wanted. There is usually about an 8 month wait.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Elsa's real name was Alfreda (they name dogs after donators if asked and that's what I was told was the history of the name). Think Beauty was the mother and Stetson the father dog. You can see they just use very simple names generally. They tattoo their dogs in the ears too.

Elsa was VERY sweet and great for my first GSD. Are you going to do agility with Ranger? If you are still in the NJ area there are alot of great places to train. I love the Morris K9 Campus in Randolph, NJ for agility. 

Morris K9 Campus


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## Rangers-mom (Jan 28, 2013)

We puppy raisers often laugh at the names that seeing eye gives their dogs. For instance i have friends that just got Ophelia to raise. I feel very lucky that Ranger was named Ranger. It just seems like a good solid name even if it is unlikely that i would have named my dog Ranger.

Ranger has a tatoo in his ear but unfortunately you can hardly read his tatoo. I am thinking of getting him chipped as well. I had a card that had Ranger's parents listed on it, but i gave it back to the seeing eye when he went back for assessment. The names didn't mean anything to me anyway. I would love to do agility, but i don't think it would be a good match for Ranger since he is very tentative about things - the reason he failed. Of course maybe it would help him get over his fears? I live in PA right across the river from NJ about an hour and a half from morristown.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

So glad we got to name our puppies! They had guidelines about names of course in regards to no inappropriate names, the obvious things. But otherwise the puppy raisers got to pick the name. 


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Rangers-mom said:


> Of course maybe it would help him get over his fears? *I live in PA right across the river from NJ about an hour and a half from morristown.*


Did you see where I lived???? 

:wild:

Agility can be VERY motivating for timid dogs. I'd definitely call and talk to Kim Seiter at the K9 campus. She also has privates and can get you started with the clicker and foundations if she thinks the class would be too much initially.

She's had very timid dogs do extremely well in agility.


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## Bigdogsolo (Nov 6, 2011)

Informative and interesting thread. Thanks!


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