[nagdu] The new GDB

[Michael Hingson]

Hi all,

I got Africa a year ago.  We did in-home training in eight days.  They began
the two week in class training shortly after, or earlier this year.

I have heard nothing but positive comments from people who went through it.
GDB is conducting two, three, and four week classes depending on the needs
of each student.  The trainer/student ratio is less and some in-home
follow-up is available I believe.

You can read about Africa's and my experiences on my web site,
www.michaelhingson.com.  Anyone is welcome to contact me off list via email
at info at michaelhingson.com or via phone at (415) 827-4084.


M. H.

The Michael Hingson Group
     “Speaking with Vision”
                 Michael Hingson, President
                         (415) 827-4084
                   info at michaelhingson.com
                   www.michaelhingson.com


for info on the new KNFB Reader Mobile, visit:
http://knfbreader.michaelhingson.com





-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jeanette Beal
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 1:06 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] The new GDB

I got Drummer almost 2 yrs ago from GDB San Rafael and we were doing clicker
a little bit even then. I too would love to hear more about the new 2 week
training style. I'd imagine that if there were less downtime there'd be more
training thus no need for so much training (I mean really you get 2-4 hrs of
training a day on average right?). However reality leads me to believe folks
are just getting less training time in altogether.

Really these schools don't make it easy to find a favorite, what with
changing things every couple of seconds!

Jeanette

On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 3:07 PM, KAYE KIPP <kkipp123 at msn.com> wrote:

> 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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-- 
Jeanette Beal
MS.Ed Assistive Technology
Independent Consultant
Boston, MA 02115
bealjk at gmail.com
http://twitter.com/bealjk
http://bealjk.tumblr.com/

"Talent is an invention like phlogiston after the fact of fire" - Marge
Piercy
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