Puppy Rearing Best Practice
The Puppy Walking Development Project
David Grice Operations Project Manager
Introduction• Overview of ‘Guide Dogs’ Puppy walking structure
• The aims of the ‘Puppy walking development project’
• The Project approach
• Achievements to date
• Work ongoing
• Benefits to Guide dogs
• My hopes for participation by International Federation Members
Guide dogs puppy walking department history
Effective socialisation and education remains the
cornerstone of our approach to raising and training
quality Guide dogs
• Basic strategies for puppy rearing were established in the 1950’s
• By 1958 an experimental puppy rearing scheme was established supported by 60 voluntary puppy walkers
The Puppy walking department today
• Puppy walking schemes developed nationally
• Rearing over 1100 pups per year
• 1300 Puppy walking volunteers and boarders
• Supported by 50 technical and administration staff
The Puppy walking department today
• Puppy development still utilizing the same basic principles established in the 1950’s
• There is a greater expectation by the organization for the Puppy walking department to raise better quality training dogs
By correctly shaping the behaviour of puppies and adolescent dogs the department can:
• Reduce rejection rates• Reduce formal training times• Reduce costs • Improve the quality of the finished product
The current educational situation
• Staff and volunteers currently receive formal education and training regarding puppy socialising and development
However the isolated working practices of Supervisors and Walkers can result in inconsistent use of:
• Development and educational advice• Problem solving and handling techniques• Specific training methods e.g. clicker training, training
disks etc.
The puppy walking development project
Initiated in August 2005 with 2 main aims:
• To agree, develop and implement improved training for puppy walkers and puppy walking supervisors
• To reduce the amount of dogs rejected as a result of learned, inappropriate behaviours
• Poor social behaviours• Inappropriate relief routines
Project intends to achieve aims by
• Developing user friendly ‘educational training packs’ for puppy walkers and supervisors
• Agreeing best practice for development and problem solving in line with business need
These ‘education packs’ are focused on specific and separate tasks or behaviours and include:
• Best practice development advice• Topic operational instructions• Trouble shooting guide book for staff to use
The project approach
• Located and evaluated current information and documentation
• Understood the department’s puppy rearing process
• Updated the puppy walking completion standard (define customer need)
• Reviewed rejection data from a cohort of dogs to identify key training areas
Temperamental rejection representationTemperament rejections
0102030405060
Handling groups
Socialising
Basic handling
Training
Aggression 23
Distraction 39
Attentiveness 19
Body sensitivity 2
Confidence 18
Stress resilience 24
Suspicion 54
Willingness 16
Social behaviour 19
Rejection via groups
Socialising 56
Basic handling 116
Training 42
The project approach • Developed a department operational guideline list
• Compiled a working group of subject matter experts to develop best practice (160 years of PW experience)
• Developed a documentation assurance process. (Without Quality Assurance documentation can become outdated and irrelevant)
• Defined final dog behaviour and task standards required prior to qualification (business need)
Achievements to date
• Working group has developed best practice advice, instructions and trouble-shooting manuals for
1. Recall development2. Obedience responses3. Development of relief routines4. Developing social behaviours5. Identifying and dealing with aggressive behaviours
User friendly and readable format with a strong department identity
Documentation Control
• Documentation is only useful to the business if it is quality assured
Essential to ensure that information remains:
• Current and up to date• Correct content • User friendly• Effective• Able to evolve with changing business need• Owned by the staff and departments which use it
Documentation Control
In order to achieve this
• Process for document creation established via subject expert working group with peer representation
• A change process is in place which transparently communicates amendments
• All documentation is evaluated
Evaluation of Documentation
Documentation evaluation remains the key to its success
• Ensures documents are achieving the project aims• Ensures education is effective and relevant
• Documentation used by puppy walkers and puppy walking supervisors
• Sample group of each was asked to feedback in 5 critical areas
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
easy to read
well presented
easy to understand
would help to support
contained new info
agree with content
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
easy to read
well presented
easy to understand
would help to support
contained new info
agree with content
Puppy walking supervisors
Puppy walkers
Work Ongoing
• The working group is scheduled to meet 8 times during 2006 to produce similar documentation for key topics
A department Intranet site is being designed to store the information and processes produced by the project
• This will provide access to documents for all staff in all departments
• Ensure all staff have access to updated information• Improve the profile of the puppy walking department
DVD and video production
• Separate project is also underway to devise a series of short programmes of selected topics illustrating best practice
• Internal working group has been established involving representatives from all technical departments
The aims being to:• Improve volunteer education during or prior to rearing a
pup
• Provide best practice information in an alternative format (cheap and user friendly)
Project Benefits
• Department processes and practices become in line with customer and business need
• All documents produced in line with Quality Assurance process. As a result they are of more value.
• Improved accessibility to information via single storage point
• Improved profile of the department. Professional and transparent