[nagdu] college & guide dogs

[Garry and Joy Relton]

Alison,

I had to laugh when I read you accounts. When I was a freshman in college my
golden retriever's name was Vicki. People would come by and say "hello
Vicki". I wouldn't say anything. Finally one day, someone asked me why I
never responded "because that's not my name" The gentleman was a little
surprised and then asked "well, what's yours". I thus began a fun
friendship. Vicki and I lived in the dorm for a year and-a-half and had no
problems. The rooms were a sweet and she and I had plenty of room. I do
think that small rooms would be hard with a dog and all the other equipment
one needs as a blind student. Vicki was allowed to play with my dorm mates
out of harness. We would through the tennis ball down the hall and she would
ran and hatch it. Sometimes she would go for the ball under the legs of an
unsuspecting undergrad standing there talking on the phone in the hall. In
those days the phones were in the hall. But, everyone in the hall loved her.
When she was in harness they all knew the rules, or were quickly told them.
AS a result Vicki was an exceptionally well behaved and professional working
dog guide. College, especially undergrads was wonderful. Enjoy and give your
dog lots of work and fun.

Best of luck. 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Allison Nastoff
Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2009 12:58 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] college & guide dogs


Hi Katrin
I just finished my freshman year of college, and I also had no 
problems.  I received my guide dog through the Occupaws Guide Dog 
Association, also an in-home training program where the trainer 
came to campus.  When I told campus housing that I would be 
coming with a dog, they gave me a private dorm room.  If you are 
going to live in campus housing, I would reccomend asking for a 
private room because dorm rooms are small, and I found that the 
dog supplies take up a surprising amount of space.  Everyone on 
campus loves my dog, but you do need to be firm about not 
allowing people to distract the dog.  I lost count long ago of 
how many students walk by and go "Hi Gilbert!", and there is even 
one overenthusiastic student who on one occasion bent down 
scratched him behind the ears, and got him all excited and 
distracted right as I was trying to walk through a door! But all 
in all, college is a wonderful experience, for both dog and 
handler.  Good luck!
Allison and Gilbert

> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Katrin Andberg" <katrin at maplewooddog.com
>To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org
>Date sent: Fri, 29 May 2009 19:31:05 -0400
>Subject: [nagdu] college & guide dogs

>I have been thinking for some time about going back to school and
was
>wondering if anyone on the list had any helpful hints about going
through
>the college process with a guide.  What did you have to do to
notify the
>school you have a guide?  Were there any problems navigating a
campus with
>your guide?  Did you run into problems with professors or other
staff or
>students because of your guide?  Anything else that was helpful
or not
>helpful to you?



>I remember last time I tried university it was 7 years ago before
I had any
>supports and to this day I have no clue what that campus looked
like or how
>to get around it.  I knew how to get to 1 building and then sort
of navigate
>in that building, usually ended up at the wrong place and needed
someone to
>help me back to class.  Needless to say my college experience was
fairly
>limited and I didn't last 2 semesters.  Now with James and other
supports I
>hope to try again and have more success.



>Thanks for any discussion.



>Katrin & James



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