[nagdu] Guide dogs in other countries

Gary Steeves rainshadowmusic at shaw.ca
Wed May 7 18:53:50 UTC 2014


Hi Tracy:

As many of you know I'm in Canada. In Canada we have about 4 or 5 programs. At Dog Guides Canada they maintainBritish Columbia guide dogs? Of course in Canada we are  able to go to any american school which many canadians doe. So the option about picking a school that meets your values is possible.

For me, I don't like my schools paternalistic ownership policy but I made the choice in order to get a poodle in a reasonable time.  Will I switch schools next time? Probably not but that has more to do with the fact that I've learned they will do a at home shortened program for graduates who have reasons for not being able to go to their program. Losing a months salary is the key ine.  Secondly, i've learned that the dog is trained well and once I get him home Ican  mold him further to my desires. Everytime I've contacted the school for advice from trainers, it turns out that what I put in place was ppretty much what they advised. I will continue to work on my school from the inside to try to change their policies but also their paternalistic  attitutdes.  My partner was commenting on the fact that we once had a session with a trainer where I wanted to work on leash healing.  She couldn't understand why I wanted to do tis and how I could walk with a cane and a dog.  One of her
drills was to walk and when the dog started pulling give a verbal correction and turn 180 degrees around and walk in the other direction. Continue doing this until the dog is watching  you for your next action.  She was surprised that a person who was blind could do trhese spins without losing sense of direction.  Now I'm athletic and have atiny bit of vision so maybe people who were newly blinded would have more trouble or mayb e not, but the point is not to make grand assumptions but to see where each person is at.

I think people should think aboutthings like ownership and ask questions.  About differnt things.  If the school ha?

Besides this list has such a wealth of information and opinions that i feel we can solve any problem.

Gary
 ownership, what happens to my dog if ?e is sick. Who makes tthe care decisions? ownership.  Daryl what about Alberta

On May 7, 2014 7:50:15 AM PDT, Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net> wrote:
>I think the biggest difference between the US and other countries,
>where 
>guide dogs are concerned, is that we have several different schools,
>and, 
>from what I've heard, other countries have one school, sometimes with 
>several branches, but still managed by one organization.
>So, here, if you are dissatisfied with some aspect of a program, you
>can go 
>to a different program. People in other countries don't seem to have as
>much 
>choice.
>I heard, because of this, that there were quite a few owner-trainers in
>the 
>UK, because it's the only option for people who aren't happy with the
>guide 
>dog program.  I heard that a long time ago, so it may no longer be
>true.
>Tracy
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>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/rainshadowmusic%40shaw.ca

-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.


More information about the NAGDU mailing list