[nagdu] Training dogs?

Marion Gwizdala blind411 at verizon.net
Fri Nov 6 14:43:41 UTC 2015


Buddy,

	I do expect a great deal from you! (smile) High expectations are the key to unlock our highest potential!

Marion



-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Buddy Brannan via nagdu
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2015 4:15 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Buddy Brannan
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Training dogs?

Hi Marion,

Don't expect too much from me. I haven't really started on formal guide training, and Hilda's only 10 months old. In fact, I'm bringing my working guide, not Hilda, because this would be a bit too much of a trip for her, I'm thinking. There is, however, at least one other owner trainer in our state, and I think she'll be there. 

--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: 814-860-3194 
Mobile: 814-431-0962
Email: buddy at brannan.name




> On Nov 5, 2015, at 2:03 PM, Marion Gwizdala via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Buddy,
> 
> 	I am looking forward to your presentation at the Pennsylvania Association of Guide dog users meeting. There are many others like you who prove the myths and misconceptions that blind people cannot be effective guide dog trainers to be false. I have learned the most about O&M and guide dog work from other blind people. If one blind person can do a thing, it proves it can be done!
> 
> 	I agree with your message completely. Because AER will not certify orientation & Mobility instructors, the NFB has chosen to do it themselves because we know that the low expectations are the barriers between blind people and our dreams. The same is true with guide dog training programs. Their low expectations of the blind can be seen in their unwillingness to entertain the idea of blind guide dog trainers, as well as their paternalistic attitudes present in their ownership policies. As for the latter, as you have so aptly pointed out, even blind people believe the training programs have the best interest of the dogs in mind when they require blind people - even those they have trained in the past - to prove they are competent and capable dog owners.
> 
> 
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion Gwizdala
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Buddy Brannan via nagdu
> Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2015 12:35 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Cc: Buddy Brannan
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Training dogs?
> 
> Raven writes:
>> Honestly, anyone could apply to be an instructor apprentice at a guide 
>> dog school and probably make it depending on presentation and such.
> 
> How I dearly wish this were true. Sadly, this has not, to date, been the case; someone can please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. However, to my knowledge, no guide dog school has welcomed blind applicants for apprentice instructor positions. The prevailing wisdom, not very wise in my opinion, is that there are too many aspects of the training that we just wouldn't be able to do; traffic springs to mind, and it's the one most often cited whenever the topic comes up. Here is one deal breaker. The few times I've looked at such positions, I've always seen something similar to this as an essential job requirement. >From the Guide Dogs For the Blind job posting:
> 
> • Valid Class B license (with passenger transportation endorsement) and Medical Certificate required (California). If not, must obtain a Class B driver license within 90 days of start date, along with insurable driving record at normal rates or Oregon equivalent. 
> 
> Yep, we'd all be dismissed on that grounds alone, if no other. 
> 
> We all know that blind people can certainly train guide dogs. Several of us have done so for ourselves, and at least one person I know of has done so for others, so of course it's possible. But I can already tell you that the schools will probably be slow to entertain the possibility, if they ever do at all. One more thing I can already hear, because I've heard it already: the outcry from our own. Do you know how many blind people I've met who have told me (in self-evident contradictory statements), "I believe in the capabilities of blind people, but I'd never trust one as an O&M instructor, or to train my guide dog. There are just some things that require vision, and it's not realistic to think that this is a job we can do." So besides overcoming the attitudes of the schools intros regard, we have to overcome the attitudes of our own people. But to do the latter, we have to do the former first. 
> 
> Again, I'd dearly love to be wrong about this. I sincerely wish I was in a position to apply for such a job, but I can't, mostly because moving just isn't possible. Still, it's something I'd love to do. 
> 
> --
> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
> Phone: 814-860-3194
> Mobile: 814-431-0962
> Email: buddy at brannan.name
> 
> 
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