[nagdu] introduction and guide doog school recommendation

Fri Feb 21 22:19:28 UTC 2014

John and Juliie,

Finding entertainment in a small town is it's own entertainment... /lol/ 
Moving back here, I had to get used to the idea of talking long walks 
just to be taking long walks. Quite a bit of the time, taking the long 
walk through town is still taking a long walk all by myself. Confused 
the heck out of my city-trained poodle, but she's gone country now, so 
we're good! /smile/

With family stuff and ups and downs and disruptions, we just haven't 
managed to get involved in the community, no matter how much we threaten 
to, so I have to be more creative to give the dog work besides going to 
the retirement home or jumping in and out of the car or pickup on small 
errands. At some point, we'll get back to more active lives, either here 
or in a city somewhere, so I keep up the training for basic urban skills 
and going-to-meeting skills and taking some college classes skills as 
best I can. Also, I do like using a guide on the same old sidewalks 
where I first started using a cane, as well as for the additional 
walking to do here. There's a small one-route bus these days, but 
sometimes it's as quick to just walk the whole way. Nowhere to go, but 
it's all in walking distance. /smile/

I don't know if that answers your questions, John. My dog would be happy 
if we were doing the church and school lifestyle, and so would I. But 
even though I don't have as much regular outside activity as I like to, 
I still use the dog and find using her preferable to using the cane in 
several ways. It's just that sometimes I have to make it a special point 
to give her regular meaningful (whatever that means) work instead of 
getting it as a matter of course in daily life as we did in the city.

Tami

On 02/21/2014 04:52 AM, Julie J. wrote:
> The community I live in is small.  There is stuff to do, but you have to
> be a bit creative in your perspective about what is considered
> entertainment. I like to walk over to the park in the spring and summer
> to see what flowers are blooming.  I take the long way around, using the
> hike and bike trails, to get a soda from Walgreens.     I walk to my
> office downtown most days, the grocery store once a week or so, and
> other assorted typical errands.  I have several commitments that occur
> quarterly, sometimes those are out of town.
>
> attending college and church functions could be enough work for a guide
> dog. Do you walk to campus or take on line classes?  Are your church
> things just Sunday mornings or do you go to things throughout the week?
> what about errands like the grocery store, bank and post office?  I
> don't know what the guide dog programs want for routes and frequency,
> but I know of people who lead fairly quiet lives and have guide dogs.
>
> But perhaps what you are really wondering is if you want a guide dog
> given that you don't travel a lot?  Perhaps you are thinking that you
> don't really need a guide?
>
> Julie
>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: starmy22 at gmail.com
> Sent: Friday, February 21, 2014 5:16 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] introduction and guide doog school recommendation
>
> Hi,
> the only issue with me getting a guidedog is that: I'm not very active.
> the only things I do at this point are attend college and go to various
> church activities.
> That's pretty much it.
> The community I live in is small and there's not a lot to do.
> I hope to hear from you soon.
> Sincerely,
> John Sanders
>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Nicole Torcolini
> Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2014 9:01 PM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] introduction and guide doog school recommendation
>
> What the guide dog schools want to know is that you can get around safely
> and that you are not just going to sit around and do nothing all day. Most
> schools do in an home interview or have you send in a video. They have
> requirements for the routes, such as it has to include stop light
> intersections and stop sign intersections.
> At GDB, the routes are not too long. If you needed to, you could probably
> write it down or something. Once you start going alone, there are usually
> trainers posted along the route; they are mostly there to try to distract
> your dog to give you practice with getting your dog to focus, but they will
> also help you if you need it.
> As long as you do well most of the time, they will pitch in and help when
> needed. I usually did rather well with listening to the traffic; however,
> one day it was so hot that Lexia was dancing in place while we were waiting
> to cross the street, so one of the trainers just told me when it was
> safe to
> cross.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> starmy22 at gmail.com
> Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2014 3:07 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] introduction and guide doog school recommendation
>
> Hi,
> Oh ok.
> I have a question: I'm going to be moving out to california.
> Are the guide dog training schools out there more spacific as to what
> criteria they are looking for?
> I  understand one of them says that you have to have a mobility instructer
> or some one send in a referral.
> Are there any guide dog training schools out in that particular area that
> don't have requirement?
> I hope to hear fromyou soon.
> Sincerely,
> John Sanders
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Raven Tolliver
> Sent: Monday, February 17, 2014 1:28 PM
> 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
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>
>
> --
> Raven
>
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