[nagdu] School in the desert

[Lyn Gwizdak]

Hey Debbie,
I went to a friend's graduation in 2001 when she got a dog from GDD.  We had 
a tour of the school and i remember the relief area with the three surfaces 
so the dog could get used to relieving on different surfaces.  Great idea 
and wish the other schools would adopt that.  At Seeing Eye, we only have 
what used to be a staff parking lot.  They fenced it in, poured white 
concrete on it, and made an area with a curb so you could get your dog used 
to curbing.  Landon will use all sufaces to park - as we call it at TSE.

I remember the lounge there and the rooms and even the shower stalls that 
had no lip on them - the same kind for wheelchair access.  The graduation 
was in the new building with a huge auditorium.  The scenery around the 
school was nice as well.  You could see the blue-grey mountains against the 
very blue sky.  I took some pictures there.

That's neat that GDD has a store in the downtown area of town.  that wasn't 
there when my friend went there.  Do you know Linda Shimulsky - don't know 
the spelling - who works for GDD.  I don't know what her job is there these 
days as I lost touch with her several years ago when she left San diego and 
moved to take a job at GDD.  She has a GDD dog, a yellow Lab but don't 
remember it's name.

Lyn and Landon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Debbie Cole" <debbieanne1124 at gmail.com>
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2012 11:59 AM
Subject: [nagdu] School in the desert


> Some of you were discussing the lounge at TSE so I'll share my
> experience.  This was my first dog.   I was there  end of October to
> 2nd week in november in 2010.  It was HOT at 96 degrees.  And yes, GDD
> is small. My class had 6 students 4 females and 2 males.  the lounge
> is in the dorms with very comfortable couches and recliners.  A table
> to dine at some mornings and sink with cabinets and fridge/microwave
> and we freshly ground beans for coffee and amde our own tea.  there
> was an HDTV and dvd player.  Very comfortable.  this is where we had
> most of our  verbal lessons.   The relieving area is a  few feet walk
> from the droms door but there are different areas for the dogs that
> may like different servaces such as grass, dirt, pepples, etc.  The
> dining area is a short walk away and the meals were satisfying.We were
> treated out to dinner in a restaurant and did lots of work in malls,
> Airports, Braille Institutes (different ones) & downtown Palm Springs,
> Parks  and churches.  We were served a formal gourmet dinner one night
> and was even taken to Ben & Jerry's ice cream.  We met at a shop
> called "Guide Dogs of the Desert Depot" in Downtown Palm Springs
> often.  It has souveniers and registration center for puppy raisers,
> etc.  Here we would sit and the students would chat and get to know
> one another  as the trainers took one dog/student team out and around
> the area for work.  Often we'd sit at the outdoor tables and enjoy tea
> or coffee.
>
> there was a formal dinner where we met our dog's puppy raisers and got
> to know them.  I was given a calendar with m dog in it.  I still keep
> in touch with her raiser today.
>
> One of my favorite memories there was a Halloween puppy party.  We sat
> at a table in the auditorium and enjoyed a lunch and desserts with our
> dogs and watched or lsitened to descriptions of all the cute pups in
> costumes.  The students got to feel the puppies and their costumes.
> there was a best costume contest.
>
> Overall, My experience was a very positive enjoyable one at GDD in
> Whitewater, California.  Just a 5 minute drive to Palm Springs.
>
>
>
> -- 
> warmly,
>
> Debbie Cole
>
> debbieanne1124 at gmail.com
>
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