[nagdu] The new GDB

Tue Dec 1 19:51:59 UTC 2009

In my class, the first-timers got their dogs, I think, three days after they 
got there.  We got ours the next day.  But I don't know what it's like now.

Kaye
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 11:41 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] The new GDB

> Hi Kaye.
> Marjorie sounds like a pretty easy dog to work with. <smile>
> Do you know if the first-timers got their dogs the day after they came,
> like retrains?  When I was a first-timer at GDB, we had to wait from like
> Sunday to Wednesday to get our dogs.  When I was a retrain, I think we
> came Saturday and got our dogs Sunday.  It would seem to me that, if a
> first-timer was only there 2 or 3 weeks, he or she wouldn't have 3 days to
> mess about with Juno.  On the other hand, there has to be some Juno, or
> else how does the school know which dog's pace and pull will match the
> student best?  Do you happen to know how it was done with the
> first-timers?
>
> Did I say I'm very curious about how GDB's new system works? <smile>
> Tracy
>
>> I was there for three, but Marjorie didn't do a whole lot of testing 
>> while
>> I
>> was there.  Well, she did a little, but she's doing some testing right
>> now..
>> Nothing serious though.
>>
>> Kaye
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 6:15 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] The new GDB
>>
>>
>>> Thanks, Kaye.  Very interesting.  And pretty cool about your solo route,
>>> with no instructor tagging along!
>>> Yes, I still have some trouble wrapping my head around food rewards,
>>> too.
>>> But they do seem to work.
>>>
>>> Did you find that Marjorie was just getting to the testing stage of
>>> things
>>> when you were getting ready to leave GDB?  That was my only quibble with
>>> the 2-week program, and it wasn't enough of a concern to keep me from
>>> doing it again.  It was great to only have to take 2 weeks out of my
>>> life,
>>> instead of 3 or 4.
>>> Tracy
>>>
>>>> Yes, the training was very different.  There's a real emphasis on food
>>>> rewards, which I found hard to get used to, but at least with Marjorie,
>>>> it
>>>> works.  We also worked with the clicker.  It does work. I
>>>> clicker-trained
>>>> Marjorie to find a bus pole and she'll never pass that pole up without
>>>> at
>>>> least showing it to me.  And it didn't take very long.
>>>>
>>>> There was still plenty of waiting around, but since I've been there,
>>>> the
>>>> training has changed.  The training is only for two weeks, even for
>>>> first-timers, at least in Boring.  I would think there wouldn't be so
>>>> much
>>>> waiting around now because the training would have to be more intense.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
>>>> To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 11:57 AM
>>>> Subject: [nagdu] The new GDB
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Kaye, you're just the sort of person I've been wanting to talk to,
>>>>> someone
>>>>> who's been to GDB recently, and had GDB dogs before (as have I).
>>>>> I've been reading a bit about GDB's new approach--less waiting around
>>>>> during training, and using clicker training.
>>>>> Did you find your recent class to be significantly different from
>>>>> previous
>>>>> classes?  Do you use different methods to control or correct your dog
>>>>> than
>>>>> you did before?  I realize it's very hard to compare dogs.  My Echo
>>>>> was
>>>>> very different from my Amba, even though they were both black labs
>>>>> from
>>>>> GDB, and trained with the same methods.  But a correction that would
>>>>> turn
>>>>> Echo into a quivering jello would barely have gotten Amba's attention.
>>>>> Also, I went through GDB's 2-week retrain class 4 different times, and
>>>>> there was still plenty of waiting around, though not nearly as much as
>>>>> for
>>>>> the first-timers.  On the other hand, it seemed like my dogs were just
>>>>> getting to the testing stage of things when I was getting ready to go
>>>>> home, and I needed someone out on follow-up in a month or two to help
>>>>> me
>>>>> polish up the rough edges.
>>>>> Anyway, I'd be real interested to hear your thoughts about your recent
>>>>> training, and if it was really different from before.
>>>>> Tracy
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
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