[nagdu] School Applications

[Tami Kinney]

Sam,

Good way to sum up.

I'll just toss in that if you have a specific breed requirement, it can
take much longer. People who need a poodle or doodle or other
hypoallergenic breed can end up waiting a year or more for a dog because
they're still really rare, although there are getting to be more of
them. Some people are willing to wait for a dog of their preference
without having a "special" need for that breed. You know, some folks
must have a shepherd and are willing to wait to get one when they might
have gotten a dog much sooner if they were willing to accept a lab or or
other more frequent breed. Then again, some prefer a shepherd and get
one right off because the school has a match for them that is a
shepherd, even though the person would accept whichever came
up. /smile/ 

So, while it seems most guide dog users I know have strong breed and
sometimes even color and gender preferences, most agree that b being too
firm on that choice will extend your wait.

Hope it doesn't sound like I'm telling you not to have a preference or
ask for one. Just mentioning that it can sometimes affect wait time.
Especially if you're needing a hypoallergenic breed. 

Welcome to the list, and I'm looking forward to hearing how your journey
goes! I've enjoyed having a number of prospective guide dog users join
us in the past two or three months. I get to listen and share their
process and learn more about all the other people I think I know,
without having to fill out the paperwork and wait myself. /grin/ 

Tami

On Mon, 2011-09-05 at 16:03 -0400, Sam Hogle wrote: 
> Hi Miranda. My name is Sam and I live in Georgia with a male golden from 
> TSE named Mason. He is my first guide and we were matched in May of 
> 2009. As for the application process, I applied in September, and got my 
> home visit in December. I'm not sure how long it usually takes, but when 
> I thought that was a long wait and gave the school a call in December a 
> week before my visit, they didn't seem to think I was rushing things. 
> So, I guess that was the normal amount of time. Then again, I have a 
> friend who went to South Eastern that got an interview within a month or 
> two after applying, so I guess it just depends. As for the more than one 
> school thing, I know several people who did that. Once they got in to a 
> school, they just called the other ones and had their files closed. Hope 
> this helps, and good luck with your application process.
> Sam and Seeing Eye Dog Mason
> On 9/5/2011 3:47 PM, Miranda Morse wrote:
> > Hello:
> >
> >
> >
> > I am new to the list and currently applying for my first guide dog. I joined
> > the list of couple of weeks ago and I have found a lot of the information on
> > here very helpful. I also was part of the teleconference a couple of weeks
> > ago. I am from Iowa.
> >
> > I was wondering what is a reasonable amount of time to wait for an interview
> > from a school or any correspondence from them? I was also wondering is it
> > appropriate to apply for 2 different schools at the same time?
> >
> >
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Miranda MOrse
> >
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> 
> 
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