[NAGDU] Guide dog schools

Fri Jul 22 13:52:40 UTC 2016

I'll chime in and say I've been very happy with my GDA experience, Guide
Dogs of America, of course.
I've had the Parker Hound for four years  and I always joke that the
trainers were mind-readers because I feel I was matched very well.
Parker is a happy-go-lucky, very easy-going, very quuiet pup, with a very
low distraction level requiring very little intervention when he is
distracted.

It is, of course, a small school as Lisa said, I liked that the classes were
no more than ten students so you got plenty of training time and it was a
work out.
So certainly if  that appeals  I think it's worth your while to investigate
them and I thought their training is sound.

I went formerly to Leader, but last time around I applied to I think five or
was it six different schools just to see what happened and GDA won.

All the schools put out good teams, and there are just some teams that don't
work out from every school. Therefore I think you should go with the
impression you get from talking to the schools and asking your questions, if
they are nice enough to take the time and really talk about your concerns,
whatever school it is, then it may indeed be a good fit for you...even if
they don't have an 100 percent perfect answer for every question, the fact
that whatever school answers and is honest as possible in their responses
means a lot in my opinion.
Good luck wherever you go.

Take care,

Parker and the Dan, I mean Dan and the Parker Hound--lol

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lisa Belville via
NAGDU
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2016 9:42 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Lisa Belville
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Guide dog schools

Hi, all.

I'd just like to chime in with some recent GDA info.  While they are a small
school in CA, they do have in home follow up.  I was having issues with my
dog and they got a trainer to me within a matter of days.  Before that,
though, I'd been trying to solve the issues on this list and by phone with
GDA trainers, so they realized that I was having difficulty that couldn't be
solved without in person follow-up.

I live in Southern Illinois, so no where near CA.

They have a class of 10 maximum with three trainers per class.  They were on
a four week schedule when I was there back in 2015, but I think they're
wanting to transition to a shorter training period.  I got to go home a week
early because I was a retrain.  Some schools will let retrains do this even
if they're getting a first dog from that school.  I got my first two dogs
from GDF, and I noticed that most of the main training  between GDF and GDA
are very similar, as is the training philosophy.

They also grant ownership upon graduation and you meet the dog's raiser
before leaving and then have the option to stay in contact once you
graduate.

I just wanted to clarify so someone wouldn't rule out a smaller west coast
school on the basis of home follow up.

Lisa Belville
missktlab1217 at frontier.com

Never make the same mistake twice. There are so many new ones, try a
different one each day.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Julie J. via NAGDU" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "Julie J." <julielj at neb.rr.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2016 5:20 PM
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Guide dog schools

> Disclaimer, I've not attended any guide dog program.  I have owner 
> trained or hired a private trainer.  I have poured over all the 
> schools offerings, talked to numerous trainers, handlers and family 
> and have just about memorized that GDUI survey.
>
> Based on what you are saying the two schools that come to mind are The 
> Seeing Eye and The Guide Dog Foundation, in New Jersey and New York 
> respectively.
>
> GDB, GDA  and GDD are clear out in California.  GEB, Leader, 
> Southeastern do not give immediate ownership.  Some of the other 
> schools are regional only and I don't think you are in their service 
> area.  Pilot is in Ohio, but they don't do in person follow up and I 
> think you have to pay for transportation to the school.  Gallant 
> Hearts is in Mississippi, but they have a coownership agreement and I 
> don't know if that fits in with what you want. It's also a small 
> school and I have no clue about wait times or follow up.
>
> I'd just pick one or two and start the application process.  Remember 
> you are evaluating them just as much as they are evaluating you.  If 
> at any time during the process you get a bad feeling, just politely 
> pull your application and move on to other options.
>
> I wish guide dogs were like cars and you could take them for test 
> drives and negotiate options, but no such luck!  All my best on your
adventure!
>
> Julie
> Courage to Dare: A Blind Woman's Quest to Train her Own Guide Dog is 
> now available! Get the book here:
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QXZSMOC
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andy B via NAGDU
> Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2016 4:37 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Cc: Andy B
> Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Guide dog schools
>
> From what I could tell, Seeing Eye looks like it would be the best fit. 
> They have everything I am looking for in a guide dog school. I can 
> bend on the financial help if needed. However, the other points are
nonnegotiable.
> Based on what you shared, it sounds like they will meet all of the 
> other needs.
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Jul 21, 2016, at 5:12 PM, Nancy VanderBrink via NAGDU 
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> My husband would be more knowledgable than I but I believe GDB helps 
>> with vet costs to some extent.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Jul 21, 2016, at 4:36 PM, Andy B. via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> I have done extensive research on most of the schools out there. 
>>> However, I
>>> don't want to choose one if it appears to look good but has a bad 
>>> reputation with most owners. Here are the answers to the questions 
>>> asked. Note that I was approved for a dog at Leader dogs in 
>>> Michigan. This was in 2003-2004.
>>> However, I never attended because living conditions forced me to 
>>> move down state.
>>>
>>> what do you want in a school?
>>> Respect and dignity from the staff members. Both for me and the dog. 
>>> They
>>> must not discount or push aside any of my experiences in life, or 
>>> lack of such experience.
>>>
>>> How much time can you spend there?
>>> No longer than 4 or 5 weeks.
>>>
>>> Would you want to have a home turn over, or do something that was a 
>>> combination of going there and returning?
>>> Both at home work and at their campus.
>>>
>>> What is their ownership policy, and do you want to own your dog 
>>> outright or do you want it to be a rental?
>>> Own it outright.
>>>
>>> How far would you want to travel to get the dog?
>>> I want to stay as close to home as possible [Virginia].
>>> What do you want in after graduation support?
>>> Lifetime support with occasional training at home. If possible, 
>>> financial support for extreme situations.
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Andy B. 
>>> via NAGDU
>>> Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2016 6:49 AM
>>> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
>>> Cc: Andy B. <sonfire11 at gmail.com>
>>> Subject: [NAGDU] Guide dog schools
>>>
>>> Hi everyone,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I will start the process of applying for a guide dog soon. The only 
>>> stopping point now is which school to attend. Can owners give their 
>>> experiences and recommendations on what one to attend?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks for your thoughts.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Andy Borka
>>>
>>>
>>>
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