[NAGDU] Ownership and why people chose a particular school

S L Johnson SLJohnson25 at comcast.net
Thu Jan 19 15:36:25 UTC 2017


Tara:

When I got my first dog in 1976 I really did not know anything about guide 
dog schools.  I assumed they were all the same.  A couple of months after 
returning home with Hogan, a male golden, I had some health issues.  Hogan 
was a really fast walker and hard puller.  The diagnosis of multiple 
sclerosis meant that my left arm was weak and I would occasionally drag my 
left foot causing me to trip.  I fell a few times with him.  I was observed 
by a few other nosey blind people and one very rude O&M instructor.  They 
reported me to the guide dog school and suddenly without notice a trainer 
showed up at my door and took my dog.  It took an attorney and my doctors 
and physical therapists quite a fight to get the dog returned to me.  This 
should never happen to any graduate of a guide dog school.  Once Hogan 
retired I made sure to only attend schools that granted me ownership.  As 
far as I know GDF and Seeing Eye grant ownership.  Leader used to but I do 
not know if that is still the case or not.  My current dog Eva is a golden 
from Pilot and I was granted ownership upon graduation.

Sandra and Eva

-----Original Message----- 
From: Tara Wiseman via NAGDU
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 10:20 PM
To: Bryan Gearry via Nagdu
Cc: Tara Wiseman
Subject: [NAGDU] Ownership and why people chose a particular school

Hi all! I have been enjoying this discussion about owner ship. I have always 
been passionate about wanting to own my own dog. However, after high school 
I wanted to get my guy dog before I started college. Although I want to go 
to the Seeing Eye, I could not go there before my first semester of college. 
Therefore, I went to guide dogs for the blind even though I was not given 
ownership of my dog. For me, that was a good decision. I work with my first 
guide until 2009. Upon her retirement, I went to the Seeing Eye and I know 
on my dog. I was curious why those of you on this list chose your particular 
schools. Was the ownership question important to you? If you chose a  school

That did not grant you ownership, even though you felt you should be given 
it, what was your reason? I am interested in the idea that if the consumer 
wants ownership we should let that be known and only go to schools that give 
ownership. How do you guys think that consumers without opinion should go 
about making the change? My understanding is, please correct me if I'm 
wrong, that's the majority of schools maintain some sort of ownership of the 
dog. So it seems to me that the simple with just sticks of supply and demand 
mean that some of us who feel strongly about on your own dogs are going to 
have to go to schools that don't let us on our own dogs if we want to have a 
guy dog. I'm interested in everybody's thoughts! My husband, at the age of 
13, got his service dogs from canine companions for Independence. They did 
not give him ownership of his dog until he retired it. That attitude makes 
me so angry! However, for Tyler he simply doesn't find it a big deal. I also 
appreciated the person who talked about the reason for not granting 
ownership is to maintain control over what is an expensive investment. 
Although I don't agree with that, I thought that was probably the primary 
reason that the schools do not grant ownership. I look forward to everyone's 
thoughts!
TaraCheck out my podcast found at:abilitystories.podbean.com and on iTunes
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