[nagdu] Why I support the ownership resolution

[Julie McGinnity]

Hi all,

I realize that many of you must be sick of this topic as we seem to
have beaten it to death, but please humor me for a moment.

At my state convention this spring, we had a discussion about guide
dog schools and training centers.  This discussion occurred because of
a question raised about what a guide dog user could expect to do with
their dog at the Colorado Center.  Of course, the discussion soon
evolved into the typical argument about guide dogs and training
centers.  Someone brought up that guide dog schools test our travel
skills before admitting us into their programs, which meant, in their
mind, there was no reason for a guide dog user to work with the cane
at a training center, since the dog handler would have already been
tested by the schools and determined to be a competent traveler.

This very argument is why I support full ownership of the guide dog
upon graduation of a program.  Here's why:

We all know those people who seem to have slipped through the
application cracks and gotten into guide dog school, even though they
cannot travel well with a cane or lack navigational skills of any
kind.  (I do understand that some people, due to wrist and hand issues
cannot use a cane for long periods of time.)  We also know those
people who seem to let their dogs rule their lives or do not keep up
with their training when they get home.  I do not believe the
application process at most, if not all, schools is rigorous enough.

At an NFB center, you know that if you complete the program you will
have exemplary skills.  You will master cane travel, Braille,
technology, and most importantly, you will be able to reason your way
out of most any problem where blindness is a factor.  Why don't guide
dog schools look for this level of accomplishment in their prospective
students?  After all, working with a dog is not a right of the blind
person.  It is a privilege that we must earn.  When we pick up that
harness handle, we are responsible for a relationship, a partnership,
not to mention the life of another living being.

Blind people who believe that guide dog users depend on their dogs to
travel, and sighted people who believe that the dog takes care of us
are so far from reality.  Training with a dog takes courage, skill,
and hard work.  Not every blind person is up to the task, though many
of us are and benefit from the partnership we share with our dogs.

I believe the answer to the question about immediate, unconditional
ownership lies in the alteration of the standards set by the guide dog
schools.  We should examine their application process, treatment of
their students in class, and attitude towards ownership.  I have
talked to guide dog trainers from my school and heard from other
graduates that the schools do not grasp the gravity of the situation.
Aside from a few incidents, taking away dogs seems rare to them, so
they see the ownership as a formality.

NAGDU needs to change their minds about what ownership means.  It is
no formality.  Ownership is graduation.  Once we walk across that
figurative stage with our dogs, we should have completed an
application process to rival that of any university (maybe without the
essay), succeeded in a focused training program, and met all the
requirements to graduate with that dog.  At that point, we will have
earned that harness handle as well as all the responsibilities that go
along with it.  A guide dog should not give us independence; rather,
the completion of a guide dog training program should reflect the
independence we already have.

How do we change these policies?  I do not know.  But maybe we start
by working with the schools, making our position clear on ownership.
I understand that consumer choice is a reason for allowing schools to
maintain ownership, but I chose to attend a school that does not grant
ownership upon graduation.  I chose this school before I understood
what ownership meant.  To be honest, I was fooled into believing that
it was a non-issue.  But I believe that my school should offer full
ownership upon graduation, and I do not want to pick another next time
if I believe that my school puts out the best dogs.

Finally, I want you all to consider how much time, effort, work,
sweat, tears, and even blood went into your work with your dog.  How
much do you learn about life just by the growth of your relationship
with your dog?  How much of the feeling of independence to you get
from knowing that you are the head of a team that includes another
intelligent, living being?  Also, how many of you believe that your
school should have made you wait, asked you to get further mobility
training, or encouraged you to explore some of the challenges a guide
would bring into your life?  Seriously think about those questions,
and then ask yourself what you think ownership of a guide dog should
truly mean.

Thanks for reading my possibly too honest novel.


-
Julie McGinnity
National Federation of the Blind of Missouri second vice president,
National Federation of the Blind performing arts division secretary,
Missouri Association of Guide dog Users President
graduate, Guiding Eyes for the Blind 2008, 2014
"For we walk by faith, not by sight"
2 Cor. 7