[nagdu] Matching - Gary's question

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

I'd bid against you.  /smile/  Of course, imagining those meetings is
probably much more interesting than the actual meetings...  Still, it would
be fascinating to know the nitty gritty of how they do the final matching.

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Tracy Carcione
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 5:46 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Matching - Gary's question

Yup, very true.
I'd love to sit in and listen to a Dog Day discussion, and hear how it
really goes.  Is it short and sweet, because most of the dicisions are
pretty well made already?  Do people argue because they both want Fluffy
for one of their students?  Is it as boring and long-winded as most of the
meetings at my workplace?  Surely not!  Well, I guess when we're
discussing a real problem at work, we stick to the point, so I suppose
it's like that.  But I'd love to listen in and find out.  If that
experience was up for auction, I'd bid.
Tracy

> And the time you spend waiting before lunch until you get the dog is
> perhaps the slowest of all the time during that whole dog day. Mainly
> because you know that the instructurs and head trainers are discussing
> your fate with which dogs somewhere else, and you can't help but
> wonder who or what you will end up with.
>
> Wayne
>
> On 4/27/10, Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net> wrote:
>> Hi Gary.
>> You asked how matching happens at guide dog school.  I've been to GDB
>> and
>> TSE, and they both did it pretty much the same.
>> Like Nicole said, it starts with the home interview.  The person who
>> comes
>> observes your pace and orientation, and your home environment.  Do you
>> live in the country or the city?  Do you walk fast or slow?
>>
>> I have found it very helpful to write a letter for the trainers and send
>> it in with my application, or at least before I show up. I try to write
>> down everything I think is pertinent about my lifestyle, like how long
>> my
>> commute is, how I usually travel (by bus and taxi, for example), how
>> much
>> I get out, and what characteristics I would like my dog to have, and
>> what
>> not.  For example, I always that I strongly prefer a smaller-sized dog,
>> and that I prefer mellow to high-energy.
>>
>> When the person shows up at the school, the trainer does Juno, with the
>> trainer holding the harness.  The trainer tries to show you the pace and
>> pull of dogs they have in mind for you.  They see how hard you correct.
>> I
>> suspect they pay attention to things like how loud you talk, and how
>> forcefully you express yourself.  They might watch you interact with
>> "practice dogs".  They talk to you again about what you want and need.
>> Then, on Dog Day morning, all the trainers for your class get together,
>> slap each other around, put all the names into a hat, say stuff like "No
>> one wants Fluffy, so we'll give him to that troublemaker Tracy", or
>> possibly just discuss the dogs and students and decide which will go
>> best
>> with which.
>> It's kind of a traditional game to keep the dog name secret until
>> sometime
>> after lunch.  Sometimes they haven't decided until around lunchtime,
>> but,
>> when I got Echo, I had discussed possibilities with my instructor before
>> I
>> even came out, so I knew I was getting a small black lab, but I didn't
>> know her name until after lunch on Dog Day.
>>
>> And that's how it's done, as I understand it.
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
> --
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>
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