[nagdu] expectations of the blind & guide dog programs' admissionstandards

[Debby Phillips]

Raven, when I go to school to get my dog, I don't feel like I 
need to prove my independence by going and getting my food.  
Basically I'm there to bond with my dog, learn how to work with 
him or her, work out on the street, judging traffic and giving my 
dog commands, and becoming a team.  I'm not in college now, so 
rarely do I go through cafeteria lines, thank God.  I did all 
that crap years ago and really don't care if I  do it again.  I 
can if I have to, but I'll go to a restaurant and sit down and 
make sure that my dog is lying quietly under my seat without 
trying to snarf every crumb off the floor.  Seeing Eye does have 
a day when people who want to go through a cafeteria line do so.  
I've been there, done that.  I really can't imagine the first few 
days of class going through a cafeteria line with a new dog.  
Talk about chaos.  Lol.  But ow do believe that once there is 
some skill in handling the dog, people should have the experience 
of going through a line, finding a seat and sitting down.  But 
like lots of other things where there is choice, some things need 
to be left up to the individual.  We all know our lives when we 
get home.  I doubt that I will ever eat in a cafeteria again.  
God forbid! But then I've been there, done that, for years with 
one of my dogs when I worked at IRS in Portland, so I know I 
could if I absolutely had to.  As for staff being in the dining 
room when students are there, or watching students go down a set 
of stairs, I've not been to GEB.  At Seeing Eye the instructors 
do space themselves in the hallway especially in the beginning to 
prevent traffic jams when dogs and students are not that familiar 
with each other and perhaps students are not familiar with the 
building yet.  As time goes by, they may still be there, but they 
are less apparent.

There are people in the world who do not have a good sense of 
direction.  I am one of those.  I do much better outdoors than 
indoors, but I'm the first to admit that my sense of direction 
sucks.  There's no amount of training in the world that will 
change that.  What training has done for me is shone me that I 
can figure things out, and what I can't figure out, I can ask 
other people or use my GPS, especially when there is nobody 
around.  Having a dog over the years has given me a sense of not 
being totally alone out there.  If ow get lost, Nova is still 
there with me.  Even though I have to figure out where we're 
going and get us home or to wherever, she and other dogs I have 
had have definitely been helpful.  But I do want to remind all of 
you about something.  When Seeing Eye first opened its doors, 
there were no white canes, no mobility instructors, nothing like 
we have today.  I am glad that people now have a chance to have 
OandM, but it has not always been so.  I am glad that we have 
what we do, but in those first days, all that those who got their 
first dogs knew was what they were taught by their instructor;.  
We as dog guide users have a proud heritage.  Those early 
pioneers in the guide dog movement were definitely brave people 
and showed courage.  They had to fight of the rights that we 
often take for granted.  So when I walk down the street with my 
dog, I often think back to those first days, months and years.  
And I am proud to be the owner of my Seeing Eye dog.  And all of 
you, whether you are Seeing Eye graduates or not, should walk 
with your dogs with pride.  Walk into restauraots, stores, 
schools, libraries, hospitals, parks, wherever you want to go, 
and walk with pride, the same pride that our brothers and sisters 
who use canes.  After all, it isn't everyone who can or should 
use a dog.    Debby and Nova