[nagdu] School in the desert

Fri Jun 22 18:18:40 UTC 2012

Lyn
It is just as you described still.  But I believe the employees may
ahve changed over the years.  A few students and myself would walk our
dogs for exercise out of the school and on the sidewalk up the hill
and the view was lovely.  the Kennels is across the road and a
convenience store and that's it for miles.

Linda is still working there.  Or she was when I was there in 2010.
I'm not certain of her job title.  she came in on Sundays to spend
with the students when it was our off day and she talked and helped us
if we ahd any questions or problems.  She did not ahve a dog at that
time and was saying she is thinking about getting a new one.  After
graduation when we were settled in wit our new dogs Linda called and
did a survey on our experience there.  Of course I ahd all good things
to say about the school and my experience.

If you wish I could get her email address for you.

On 6/22/12, Lyn Gwizdak <linda.gwizdak at cox.net> wrote:
> 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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>
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-- 
warmly,

Debbie Cole

debbieanne1124 at gmail.com