[nagdu] Pilot Dogs training

Criminal Justice Major orleans24 at comcast.net
Sun Jun 24 02:56:09 UTC 2012


Hi, julie J,
Yes, Pilot has the students do basic routes all together.
In the very beginning however, one instructor will be with one student so trainy and dog can get used to each other.
After that, they increase it up to doubles with two students and dogs.
I do remember back when I was in training with Odie, there were two other retrains as well.
One night on our night walk, all three retrains and dogs went out together and did the same route like during the day time.
We did do some work inside of a pet store, Columbus shopping mall, a couple of drug stores and training on the buses.
Because Columbus, Ohio doesn't have a monarail system, no training was able to take place on that.
When I did train there with freedom, the trainer that did prepare him didn't have us doing any country sidewalkless routes.
The second time, that was included.
Yes, I do agree with you that each trainer does things differently.
I experienced that with my first guide dog at GEB.
I'll admit during my three times of training, I found myself getting annoyed after a while because of being told so many different things bgy different trainers than the one who trained the dog directly.
I just had to go with the flow and abide by instruction.
For the test walk at Pilot, you end up doing the same basic route that you worked on during class.
Instfuctor is with you, but they try to keep their distance  and will step in if need be.
Ultimate goal is for guide dog team is to do their best and if both pass the achievement walk, then they can go home.
When I did it though twice, I managed to pass the first time around with flying colors.
I had the nervous gut in my stomach that I was going to fail.
Once I found out that I passed, the butterflies were all gone.
I am curious to hear about the training from those who've attended TSE, SEGDI, GDB, GDA, GDDI, Fidelco and Leader Dogs.
Although students do basic routes together or for instance if there are some that have customed needs, are the dogs trained by one instructor or do others take over?
I remember back when I was at GEB, I had to have different instructors work with me because Orleans became a big wheeny when it came to his trainer Andrea Martine/Gardner.
If she was around, he would not stay focused or on top of his guide dog work.
Thankfully when it came to Freedom David Berry and Odie however, they didn't have any dificulties with their instructors around.
They worked fine and stayed on top of things for the most part.
As far as the differences of the trainers at Pilot though, yes, I had one instructor who didn't like the idea of me teaching Freedom hand signals and she claimed that he didn't like my hand moving toward his face.
After we went home, I continued using the hand signals and Freedom did just fine.
The instructor who trained Odie was all for the hand signals and encouraged them to be used.
His explanation was that they come into play when you have to step outside of a classroom during lecture to avoid inerupting the teacher and when leaving the building like an apartment complex early in the morning to not disturb other residents that may be asleep.
I do like the hand signals and greatly used them during 
I couldn't talk and it hurt if I tried.a nasty lung infection.
Since Odie's instructor Mike Tesmmer encouraged me to use them again, they were helpful.
Even so, I'll gladly teach them to my next dog.
*Smiles*
Bibi


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