[nagdu] attending The Seeing Eye

[Reinhard Stebner]

Thank you to all of you who gave me some really kind and considerate words
of advice. Once I have my pup and am back home, I will email the list and
let you know how it all went. I am also planning on blogging my experience
(I must warn you though I am not the best writer, but you will get an idea
of what it was like). All of you have helped me feel like I am part of a
family. I just came off of having two dogs from Fidelco (my first was
received in Oct. 2011 Jeter and my second was Robbie received him Jan.
2012). You could say I am feeling a bit gun shy. This is why I had asked you
to write these comments about TSE. By the way, both of these dogs had health
issues.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Bryan Jones
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2012 8:24 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] attending The Seeing Eye

Hello Reinhard,

Other folks have already listed most of the things I would say, so I'll skip
those details and add a few others. I was at TSE in August / September of
2009 for my first and only guide dog. 

I was completely caught off guard by the high level of quality throughout
the whole experience: The planning and communication leading up to my visit,
the transportation arrangements, the warm welcome and introduction I
received upon arrival on campus, the well-scheduled daily routines, the
level of staff professionalism and the comfortable amenities. There were a
few of us who needed to telecommutewith our jobs and I never had any problem
finding a few hours a day to do this. I used a personal laptop and can't
speak to the computers available in their lab. We spent some time working
the dogs on public transportation, an exercise that has turned out to be
very helpful for me. A few other notes of possible importance:
Transportation to and from local church services and pharmacies was
provided, there is or was a smoking lounge, and visits from friends and
family were restricted to just a few hours on one or two weekend days during
my stay.

Being a first time student, I was one of a handful who stayed for 4 weeks
instead of three. That last week was great for learning as we spent a day
working our dogs around Manhatten, did a night walk around Morristown, and
generally spent more one-on-one time with the instructor. As I'm writing
this I keep coming back to thoughts of the warmth and laughter that always
seemed to be rolling through the campus and through the dining area in
particular. Also, while I had had some good O and M training a few years
back, my month at TSE was really the first time I had been around other
blind folks, and from my classmates I learned a lot more than just how to
work a guide dog.

Best of luck,
Bryan

On Apr 12, 2012, at 2:47 PM, Reinhard Stebner wrote:
> I will be attending The Seeing Eye on Monday 4/16/2012. Could you please
let
> me know from a user's prospective, what to expect? I am referring to:


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