Mr. Gibbs the Service Doodle

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

Just watched a story on NBC news about a service dog, either a goldendoodle or a labradoodle, missed that part, that carries a 10 pound oxygen tank for a three year old girl.  Good dog, Mr. Gibbs,Good Dog!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The story is not quite as sweet as it first seems. There have been a couple of discussions here in the last week about this story, and if you read the comments and the links, you'll see why. :)

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/doodle-lovers-must-watch-this

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/did-you-see-the-goldendood...

 

[Elaine]

I also saw the story!  What a great ambassador to Goldendoodles"  It was such a touching story.

[Beth and Gang]

I feel bad for Mr.Gibbs...what a sad doodle life for him

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

My feelings exactly.

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

Karen,

Once again I owe you thanks, just wish Mr. Gibbs owners could read this article.  I agree, at first glance the story

seemed to honor this wonderful dog.  I also did notice watching it that the child never expressed care or concern for

the dog.  I was in a hurry when I was stopped to watch the segment and missed the opening so it did appear to

be cute.  Watching it again on the video has entirely changed the way I interpreted it.   You really do manage to

keep us well informed.  Huge THANKS!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

No thanks necessary. Actually, it was April Cliber who brought it to my attention in another forum.

I'm very sensitive to talk about doodles being used for "service" because there seem to be many people who believe that they are used this way, and a fair number of people seek to adopt rescued and rehomed doodles for service dogs, which the DRC does not permit.  I've spent some time around true service dogs, bred and raised for that purpose, and I know the kind of training and temrperament required for that, as well as the kind of owner a service dog needs. This whole situation just doesn't fit with any of that.

Real service dogs are very expensive, and there are often waiting lists. So there have also been some people taking advantage of the "doodles were originally bred for service work" idea to profit dishonestly by claiming to be service dog trainers and selling poorly bred and poorly trained doodles (even some in poor health) to unsuspecting people, particularly in the Southeast. So I'm sensitive to that as well. Some families who are dealing with health issues have been ripoffed to the tune of thousands of dollars for sick and/or untrained dogs.

There are also a lot of people who confuse service work with therapy work. I have yet to have first-hand knowledge of a doodle doing true assistance work. Many doodles are doing therapy work such as reading with kids and visiting hospitals. That's a whole other ball game and one that can be very rewarding for the dog as well as the people they help.

But too many people seek to get a doodle "for the kids", and that spells trouble for a lot of dogs. This story spread like wildfire through the internet and I fear it will only reinforce the problem of the wrong people getting doodles as toys for their kids. :(