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

Recall Education

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

Documentation contains:

• Individual identity mark • A creation date

• Author and contact details

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

Project Benefits

• Improved education and training for volunteers and staff

• Improved consistency throughout the department

• Staff presented with professional development and up-skilling opportunities

• Better prepared and cost effective puppies !