[nagdu] Questions about Pilot
Buddy Brannan
buddy at brannan.name
Mon Mar 30 18:43:02 UTC 2015
While it may not be exactly what you want, have you tried the handles made by Bridgeport?
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: 814-860-3194
Mobile: 814-431-0962
Email: buddy at brannan.name
> On Mar 30, 2015, at 12:47 PM, S L Johnson via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Hello Kerri:
>
> You will find Pilot Dogs quite different from Seeing Eye. Pilot isn't the
> big fancy school that Seeing Eye is. It is an older building. Student
> rooms are double occupancy. There is a phone but, no computer access. If
> you are an experienced guide dog user, you will probably be scheduled for
> the twelve day. That's ten days of training and your two travel days.
>
> Below is what my trainer did. I do not know if all the trainers do the same
> things so, other people's experiences may be different.
>
> You'll arrive on Sunday. They'll show you around the school and explain the
> program to you. The next morning they'll do a short Juno walk and show you
> where you'll be relieving your dog. Then after lunch you will be given your
> dog. After some time alone with your dog, the trainer will come back and
> you'll go out to relieve the dog. Then you'll take a short walk. Sometime
> later that day, you will give your new dog a bath. The trainer will be with
> you to show how it is done. They feel this is a good way to bond with your
> new dog. They do not use tie-down chains. There is a crate next to each
> bed.
>
> Now for the relieving issue. They have a rectangle shaped area in the
> courtyard. It has a metal railing, about waist high, around this area. You
> put the dog under the railing down into the relief area. There are three
> spots along this railing. Unlike other schools, everyone does not go out at
> the same time. The word they use is "potty Potty". They tell you to stay
> out there for about ten minutes. That first day, you will take your dog out
> about every 40 minutes until bedtime. They say this is to establish good
> housebreaking habits. As class goes on, the time between relief times will
> increase. This will depend on your particular dog. They have radio
> speakers in the room that will blast you awake at 6:00 am. They tell you to
> get the dogs out before breakfast. They only had me pick up once just to
> show that I knew how to do it.
>
> You will feed twice a day, morning and evening. My trainer said we could
> either choose before or after breakfast. The second feeding is after
> dinner. You have to feed them outside in the courtyard. You go to the feed
> room, fill the dish and go outside, hoping your new excited dog doesn't make
> you drop that full bowl of food. The dishes are small, maybe quart size,
> hard plastic, not metal like most other schools. You will be given two
> dishes, one for food and one for water.
>
> Most commands are the same. Pilot does not teach the dogs to find or
> follow. The command to get your dog to slow down is "easy" instead of
> "steady".
>
> Grooming is also done outside whenever you have time during your day. They
> use a large pin brush. Even though I got a golden, they did not give me a
> comb.
>
> The daily training is not like other schools. Since Pilot is located right
> in the city, you will not have to get into vans and be driven to the
> designated route for the days training. You will relax in your room or the
> lounge until it is your turn. The only time we used a van to take us to our
> training was for country travel and to a department store. I can't describe
> the usual routes because due to medical issues and physical limitations my
> walks were shortened. Pilot seems to plan walks more on an individuals
> needs. As with all schools, you will start out in quiet areas and progress
> to downtown and riding the city bus. If you stay for ten days, you'll have
> two test walks, one the first Friday and the second, the following
> Wednesday. That second walk has you walk to the bus stop, ride downtown, do
> a prescribed route, including into a CVS and an office building. On that
> walk, you'll be accompanied by a trainer you and your dog don't know. After
> that walk you will be told whether you passed or failed.
>
> Other things you will find that are different is the equipment. The Pilot
> leash is much longer than what you are used to from Seeing Eye. It will
> have some extra snaps and a buckle that form a muzzle. The harness body is
> almost the same but, the handle is permanently attached to the body. Also,
> I noticed the length of the handle is much shorter than some other schools
> use. It has leather on the top and about two inches down each side, the
> rest is white venal. On the chest strap there are two snaps where a strip
> of plastic spikes can be inserted to stop dogs from pulling too hard. If
> your dog doesn't need this, your harness will have a strip of plain leather
> that snaps into that place. Personally, I don't like the leashes or the
> harness handles. I've already replaced the leash and if I could find a 16
> inch all leather handle, I'd replace that too.
>
> I hope this helps. Hopefully in October, they'll have good news for you.
> Good luck. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.
>
> Sandra and Eva
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kerri Stovall via nagdu
> Sent: Monday, March 30, 2015 8:30 AM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nagdu] Questions about Pilot
>
>> Good morning listers,
>> Hey there from Texas. I was just curious if any of you Pilot Dogs
>> graduates would be willing to either write me off list, or continue this
>> thread with some information about the training techniques and methods
>> that Pilot uses. What are the typical training walks like? How do they
>> differ from other schools' methods of training? Just any info possible is
>> great. I have heard conflicting things about Pilot training you to pick up
>> after your dog, and some pilot grads I have heard from say no. Things like
>> that make me curious. I'm going to be a third time guide hander, so I'm
>> not too concerned with it since I already know how, but it'll be good to
>> be aware of how other grads have experienced this particular school, since
>> this is my first time to go there. I went to Seeing Eye twice, so their
>> methods may be similar or completely different. I'd like to know what they
>> train the dogs to do other than the obvious, guiding, such as finding
>> things or certain commands. I'd also like to hear people's perspectives on
>> anything else I didn't touch on, such as what they teach in their daily
>> lectures, crate training, and I have heard from others that you take
>> your dog out quite a bit more than I've ever done. What do the trainers
>> recommend for certain behaviors? Ok, that's plenty of things to start
>> with, but if I missed something, please fill me in, either off here or in
>> this message.
>> Thank you in advance, and I'm looking forward to October when they'll
>> possibly be done training the new litter of poodles and I get a call to
>> let me know about it. My email address is: spedangel84 at gmail.com
>
>> Talk soon,
>> Kerri
>
> Sent from my iPhone
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