[nagdu] new guide dog.

Sun Feb 6 20:46:51 UTC 2011

Hi Ann
Thank  you for taking the time to share your experience.  Your 
explanation made sense.  It gave me questions to ask the school when I 
am ready for a guidedog.
Brenda
On 2/6/2011 3:54 PM, Ann Edie wrote:
> Hi, Alex,
>
> Let me say first that I'm not trying to change your mind about getting 
> your guide dog from Fidelco.  I just have a few comments to make about 
> the Fidelco contract based on my experience with Fidelco from 2001 and 
> 2002.
>
> The Fidelco contract which I received at the time I trained with my 2 
> Fidelco dogs gave the graduate the option of gaining ownership of the 
> dog after 6 month of successful partnership or leaving the dog in the 
> ownership of Fidelco.  This choice seemed pretty clear.  However, the 
> thing that always confused me was that, except for the checkmark in 
> the box indicating which ownership option the graduate chose, there 
> didn't seem to be any difference between the terms of the contract for 
> those who owned the dog versus those who left the dog in Fidelco's 
> ownership.  For example, the graduate still had to agree to follow 
> Fidelco's suggestions/recommendations/dictates regarding the brand of 
> food that the dog would be fed and other ways in which the dog would 
> be managed/treated. Fidelco still reserved the right to remove the dog 
> if the organization felt that the dog was not being maintained 
> according to the advice of the program, without having to prove 
> neglect or abuse to any legal authority. This seemed contradictory to 
> me, and it seemed as if the choice of ownership options was there 
> purely for cosmetic/public relations value, rather than as a true 
> legal distinction.
>
> As it turned out, I had to return my first Fidelco dog after just 3 
> months of partnership, and I had to return my second Fidelco dog after 
> just about a year of partnership, well beyond the point where my 
> choice of ownership had supposedly gone into effect.  Both times I 
> returned the dogs voluntarily, but in both cases I expressed my 
> expectation that Fidelco would include me in planning and discussing 
> the dogs' future placements, as I had, of course, become very attached 
> to each of them.  In both cases, however, once the dogs were back in 
> Fidelco's custody, I was not consulted nor even kept informed as to 
> the disposition of the dogs, and I had to go to considerable lengths 
> just to find out in a general way where my dogs had been placed.
>
> I would be interested to know whether this situation with respect to 
> the ownership issue and its consequences has changed in the 
> intervening years or whether it remains essentially unchanged.  I 
> would also like to know if Fidelco's policies in real life have been 
> brought more into alignment with the ownership clause of the contract.
>
> I just thought you might want to look at these matters before you 
> enter the emotionally-charged relationship with a guide dog training 
> program and with a living canine personality and partner.  And yes, 
> the people at Fidelco are nice, and perhaps you think such a situation 
> where you would have to send back a beloved guide could never happen 
> to you, and if it did, of course the Fidelco people would want to keep 
> you in the loop as to what would happen to your own dog.  But just 
> remember, forewarned is forearmed, or an ounce of prevention is worth 
> a pound of cure, or look before you leap--or whatever proverb you 
> like--is still the best advice I can give you.
>
> Best,
> Ann
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "alex" <aaatlantic at aol.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2011 11:52 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] new guide dog.
>
>
>> thanks bryan,
>> I am very happy to say that some of the staff are very good people 
>> and Jason he is very good man.  he is going to be my traner
>> thanksOn 2011-02-05, at 10:00 PM, Bryan Brown wrote:
>>
>>> Alex,
>>>
>>>   Hi, welcome to the list. I'm a graduate of FIDELCO and I am 
>>> thrilled with my boy Tarik, my first and only other dog was a little 
>>> female black lab, she was excellent, trained by the seeing eye. I'm 
>>> self employed so going out of town for a month wasn't an option for 
>>> me when it was time to get a new guide. I researched programs and 
>>> found FIDELCO, and it was a perfect fit for me. I've been really 
>>> happy with the support that I get from FIDELCO. I opted to own and 
>>> it's been a good five years. He hasn't slowed down much but I like 
>>> to get where I'm going, and I haven't slowed down much myself, so it 
>>> works out good.
>>>
>>> I truly enjoy German Shepherds as a breed and I don't see myself 
>>> using any other program than FIDELCO. There training philosophy and 
>>> the fact that I can call out there and say "Hi, it's Bryan from 
>>> Wisconsin" and they know who I am makes me feel at home with the staff.
>>>
>>> I think you will be happy, the training is one on one and very 
>>> personalized. You are in your home town and the trainer is exposed 
>>> to your real life. I believe that makes a huge difference. I 
>>> personally see in community training as the future of guide dog 
>>> training.
>>>
>>> I think there are at least 3  or maybe more FIDELCO grads on the 
>>> list, so we're a rare breed, but we're around. Again welcome and 
>>> good luck in training!
>>>
>>>   Bryan and FIDELCO dog Tarik
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dixie" <blueherons at sbcglobal.net>
>>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog 
>>> Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2011 8:03 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] new guide dog.
>>>
>>>
>>>> Fidelco only trains German Shepherds.  And, we are allowed to 
>>>> choose if we
>>>> would like to own or for Fidelco to maintain ownership of our dogs.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> If we choose to own our dogs, as I have done, after 6 months as a 
>>>> working
>>>> team the ownership of the dog reverts to the handler.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Dixie and Fidelco's Cobalt
>>>>
>>>> ~  @-> ~ <-@  ~
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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