[nagdu] introduction and guide doog school recommendation

[Nicole Torcolini]

You pretty much said what I was thinking. You always have good advice  about
choosing schools and what to look for.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Raven Tolliver
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2014 10:29 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] introduction and guide doog school recommendation

Hi John,
Every school is perfect for someone. You will get any number of loyals or
graduates recommending the school where they got all, most of, or their most
recent dog. People will recommend the Seeing Eye, Guiding Eyes, GDB, Pilot,
Leader, GDF, GDA, and so on. While all of those schools have their
advantages and upsides, I can think of pitfalls for all of those programs.
The bottom line: you need to decide on the school that sounds or seems
perfect to you. How do you do that? Consider what factors are important to
you. But wait, this is your first guide dog, so maybe you don't know what
those factors are yet. That's fine. Here are some factors for you to
consider and research.
location of program, ownership policy, dog training methods used, length of
formal guide training, average age of dogs issued, dog breeds offered,
length of student training, in-home training offered, special needs training
program offered, graduation ceremony, puppy-raiser contact, veterinary
assistance fund offered That is not an exhaustive list by any means. I'm
certain others will contribute. But those are some of the more important
factors when considering a guide dog school.
I personally chose Guiding Eyes because I needed the financial assistance
with veterinary costs at the time, and I felt it important to receive a dog
that was trained in New York. Also, I wanted an adult dog, specifically a
golden retriever. GEB was perfectly able to satisfy my requirements.
The same things might not matter to you. You might not care which breed you
get, or how young your first guide dog is. You might want ownership upon
graduation. Or, you might need in-home training for your circumstance. It's
up to you to research what each school offers, and as you find things you
like, write them down and try to find a school that has those things. That's
how I went about it.
Visit school's websites and click around. Call admissions and ask questions.
Put emails out on this list about specific schools once you become
interested in a few. It's far easier to answer questions about specific
schools than it is to make a suggestion to a person we know absolutely
nothing about.
I hope this helps. Good luck on your search.
--
Raven

On 2/17/14, starmy22 at gmail.com <starmy22 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
> My name is John.
> I'm 28 years of age.
> I'm considering getting a guide dog.
> I have a quesiton: what are some  good guide dog schools that you 
> could recommend for some one who is getting there first guide dog?
> I hope to hear from you.
> Sincerely,
> John Sanders
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/ravend729%40gmail.c
> om
>


--
Raven

_______________________________________________
nagdu mailing list
nagdu at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/ntorcolini%40wavecable.co
m