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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Paul, yes, he can apply for other schools and the first one that has an opening will call him. All of them were on hold during covid and didn’t add dogs for training, so it’s a catch up now. Beth <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> kristen dockendorff <kdockendorff@gmail.com> <br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, April 25, 2023 10:33 AM<br><b>To:</b> NFB of Connecticut Mailing List <ct-nfb@nfbnet.org><br><b>Cc:</b> Elizabeth Rival <erival@comcast.net><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [CT-NFB] International guide dog week celebration<o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>On Tue, Apr 25, 2023 at 10:28 AM Elizabeth Rival via CT-NFB <<a href="mailto:ct-nfb@nfbnet.org">ct-nfb@nfbnet.org</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p></div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Guide dog foundation told me 9 to 18 months to wait for a new dog. Beth <o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b>From:</b> CT-NFB <<a href="mailto:ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org" target="_blank">ct-nfb-bounces@nfbnet.org</a>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>CHERI DUQUETTE via CT-NFB<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, April 25, 2023 7:48 AM<br><b>To:</b> NFB of Connecticut Mailing List <<a href="mailto:ct-nfb@nfbnet.org" target="_blank">ct-nfb@nfbnet.org</a>><br><b>Cc:</b> CHERI DUQUETTE <<a href="mailto:cbduquette@comcast.net" target="_blank">cbduquette@comcast.net</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [CT-NFB] International guide dog week celebration<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333'>Hi, </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333'>Thanks for sharing your stories. </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333'> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333'>It saddens me to have to share that once again, Paul has been told he will have to wait for his dog. He is going through Freedom Guide Dog, and they let him know they won't have a dog until this fall. At first it was last fall, then this spring, and now this fall. Needless to say he is disappointed. Should he consider a different organization? </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333'>Thanks for letting me vent a little. </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333'>Be well, </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333'>Cheri </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>On 04/24/2023 12:57 PM Isabel Rosario via CT-NFB <<a href="mailto:ct-nfb@nfbnet.org" target="_blank">ct-nfb@nfbnet.org</a>> wrote: <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Happy International Guide Dog Week! The Ct Association of Guide Dog Users want to take a moment to celebrate and recognize the amazing work of guide dogs and their handlers. These loyal and intelligent animals serve as the eyes for their blind and visually impaired owners, helping them navigate the world with independence and confidence. We’ll be showing our appreciation for these incredible animals and their trainers by sharing our favorite guide dog stories throughout the week! <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>We’ll be starting off with stories from Beth Rival - My first guide dog was Sierra from the Seeing eye. A golden retriever and lab mix. I learned that letting the public pet her wasn’t benefiting me or my dog. My independence was 100 per cent increased by getting a guide dog. It has given me the best years of my life and it gave me a wonderful experience and it gave me all the independence I could ever ask for. Betty and Bruce babysat for her once in a while when she was retired and one time they brought her from their home in Wethersfield to our office then in East Hartford and she took a big dump when she got to the office. They all laughed… One of my first discrimination stories was when I went to Disney and at the airport you would get on a bus to go to the Disney hotels. Well they boarded the entire bus and made me wait forever. Then the lady asked passengers if it was okay if a dog came on the bus. Then I had to parade by everyone to the very back of the bus and was embarrassed, but I said nothing because it was my first dog and I didn’t want to make waves… That would not be the case with any of my other 2 dogs. Sierra was at Washington seminar every February and we proceeded into a taxi to go to the meetings, before Ubers etc. I got in the front of the taxi and brought my guide dog in and before I could blink, she was slurping the drivers soup in between the front seats. That ride cost me a large tip and the price of a large hot new soup for the driver. Luckily, he was a good guy about the incident. My 2 nd guide dog would always walk out of stores like Target with a stuffed animal in his mouth or walk away with one in his mouth from the Berlin fair and a police officer shook his hand cuffs behind me and said your dog is under arrest, with lots of humor. I have been asked at least 4 times from strangers… How can I get one of your harnesses. My response is always.. well you first have to be blind. It is very annoying. Many times shopping with my girlfriend and her guide dog we are asked why don’t we share a guide dog? Also, can I help put your packages in the trunk of your car? Don’t they see we can’t drive? The public can be very cute at times. I have always owned pets since I was little. There is a great benefit to loving a fur baby, but especially when you trust and love a guide dog with your life. I wouldn’t change anything and have loved having my freedom. <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Attached are pictures of Beth's guides mentioned in her stories:Sierra, a yellow dog, Barkley a big black lab, and Harlow a smaller lab <o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span class=m-8990573255544910687gmailsignatureprefix>-- </span><o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>Best regards, <br>Isabel Rosario <br>Co-chair|NABS Membership Committee <br>President| Connecticut Association of Blind Students <br>President| Connecticut Association of Guide Dog Users <br>A proud division of the National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut <br><a href="http://www.nfbct.org" target="_blank">www.nfbct.org</a> <br>Check out my podcast:<a href="https://anchor.fm/brizzys-perspective" target="_blank">https://anchor.fm/brizzys-perspective</a> <br>203-993-3045 <br>insertion point between Committee and President|, at the 81st position <o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'>_______________________________________________ <br>CT-NFB mailing list <br><a href="mailto:CT-NFB@nfbnet.org" target="_blank">CT-NFB@nfbnet.org</a> <br><a href="http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ct-nfb_nfbnet.org" target="_blank">http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ct-nfb_nfbnet.org</a> <br>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for CT-NFB: <br><a href="http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ct-nfb_nfbnet.org/cbduquette%40comcast.net" target="_blank">http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ct-nfb_nfbnet.org/cbduquette%40comcast.net</a> <o:p></o:p></p></blockquote></div></div><p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________<br>CT-NFB mailing list<br><a href="mailto:CT-NFB@nfbnet.org" target="_blank">CT-NFB@nfbnet.org</a><br><a href="http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ct-nfb_nfbnet.org" target="_blank">http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ct-nfb_nfbnet.org</a><br>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for CT-NFB:<br><a href="http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ct-nfb_nfbnet.org/kdockendorff%40gmail.com" target="_blank">http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ct-nfb_nfbnet.org/kdockendorff%40gmail.com</a><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote></div></div><p class=MsoNormal>I waited a year and a half to get Winnie and that was just a normal retrain. Seeing Eye has over 200 people on their waiting list. <o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>