[nagdu] An Indian with a million Questions

[Julie J.]

Welcome Poonam

Sorry I know nothing about guide dogs in India, the school there or getting 
a dog from another country.  I think you'd have to look at your laws 
regarding import of dogs  and laws regarding guide dogs to know if that is a 
possibility.

I have owner trained three guide dogs.  My fourth dog is being privately 
trained by a blind person and will be arriving in just a couple of weeks!  I 
wouldn't call owner training easy by any stretch of the imagination, but 
neither is it rocket science.   For me the most difficult parts are finding 
a dog to start with because not just any old dog will work out well as a 
guide.   The training isn't all that difficult.  I just do the next easiest 
thing and the next and the next and keep building layer on layer of skills 
until the end.  that's time consuming, but not super difficult.  Another 
difficult part is the being on your own.  It can wear you down, advocating 
for yourself all the time, defending your choice to people you thought would 
be supportive and working through every single problem that comes up.

things that helped me the most were having a plan because I am sort of an 
obsessive planner.  It gives me a sense of control even though the plan 
changes two dozen times a day, having a plan helps me to know what the next 
step is.   Also having people who support your crazy idea.  the people who 
were the most supportive for me were other owner trainers and family who 
know next to nothing about guide dogs or dog training.  Mostly they listened 
to me vent my frustrations and said uh huh occasionally.  I knew they didn't 
truly understand my dog training dilemmas, but they did care about me and 
would listen.  That was what I really needed.  With time I could figure out 
the training issues.

I don't have much time to write at the moment.  Please ask away and I'll try 
to answer as soon as I can.

Again, welcome!
Julie




!

-----Original Message----- 
From: Poonam via nagdu
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2014 3:20 PM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nagdu] An Indian with a million Questions

Dear all,
I just joined this mailing list in order to know a bit more about guide
dogs. I am not sure if we are supposed to limit our queries to one
question, but if yes, the moderator will probably take care of it.

So here are my questions:
1. There is just one guide dog school in India called the ‘Drushti Guide
Dog School. It was founded in 2005, but there is absolutely no
information about it online apart from that. I was hoping someone has
visited or has some information about it?
2. Anyone been to India with their guide dog? Do describe your
experience. I have read one popularized article, but that's all.
3. One problem I am having, apart from others in my country, is that
there are packs of stray dogs running about. When I was a sighted
person, I did own a dog and these packs of dogs would attack him
whenever we went for a walk. I used to throw or rather pretend to throw
pebbles at them before they ran away before. Keeping this in mind, how
do I deal with them? Has anyone had such an experience?
4. Is it possible to get a dog transported from another country to mine?
If yes, how much would I need to pay, if anything and how would I go
about training for myself?
5. How difficult is it to train your own guide dog? I know it is not
strictly reccomended, but i'd like to give it a try and want to know if
any of you have tried.

I have a few more questions, but will resist for now.

Thanks, everyone.

-- 
Regards,
Poonam


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