[NAGDU] Fidelco, was, Criminal background check

[Heather Bird]

Hello, list. As a graduate of Fidelco, I feel compelled to chime in here
with my thoughts on the organization. I should say that for background, I
had dogs from Fidelco from 2006 to 2010, which was around the time that Mrs.
Caman died and things started to go to hell in a hand basket. I believe that
John Bifield had already departed at that time as well. First the positives.

A. They are the only school training exclusively German Shepherd Dogs, which
is very important as almost all of the other schools in the country have
discontinued or seriously down-sized their breeding programs for GSDs. The
Seeing Eye and Fidelco are responsible for keeping GSDs alive as a guiding
breed in the United States. Yes, some other schools still produce GSDs, but
not in large numbers. Some schools have re-instituted their GSD breeding or
tried to re-invigorate and build up their GSD programs in the past few
years, which is great, but the numbers just aren't up yet. So, if you want
to be guaranteed a GSD, Fidelco is the place to go. Now, Eye Dog Foundation
sort of collapsed but I've heard from a few people that they are back. How
strong they are, how the quality of the dogs is at present, whether their
past problems have been overcome, I have no idea. Time will tell, but they
are a very small program, so can only help the GSD numbers just so much.
Also, given past miss-steps it will take time to see if they are a viable
option for people at this time. I do wish them success as we need more
quality producers of GSD guide dogs. But, case rests, for guaranteed GSDs
you've got Fidelco and maybe, maybe Eye Dog Foundation. Yes, The Seeing Eye
does produce a large number of quality GSDs, I believe they produce the most
in our country for a school that produces a variety of breeds, but I'd have
to look at stats to be entirely accurate.
B. They provide home training. Most on-campus training programs provide home
training, at some times for some students, but there are two problems. A.
They often have pretty restrictive criteria for doing so. For instance at
TSE you must be a former graduate of theirs to get home training, not just
be a repeat guide dog handler, but you must be one of their graduates, even
if you have successfully had home training from Fidelco or Freedom Guide
Dogs before, and you wait a very long time, about as long as you would for
Freedom or Fidelco. B. Home training is great, on-campus training is great,
but when a school specializes in one or the other, they are experts at
providing that kind and their ability to provide quality placements in the
other type which is not their mainstay may not match up. It certainly could
be as good or better, but there's no telling since that is not their area of
expertise. I believe that the only two purely home training schools in the
US at this time are Fidelco and Freedom Guide Dogs.
C. Their dogs are wonderful. They are very intelligent, loyal, beautiful
examples of their breed. Both of my girls from Fidelco were absolutely
brilliant, gorgeous, outstanding dogs. Some people will mention health or
behavioral problems in Fidelco GSDs, but similar problems do crop up in TSE
shepherds as well, and even more so in the breeding programs at other
schools where they are just now beginning to re-instate or to revitalize
their flagging GSD breeding. So, personally, I think that TSE has the best
shepherd lines Fidelco has a close second, Eye Dog Foundation is as of yet
unknown and relatively untested after their recent return to the scene, and
the other school's lines are hit or miss but are on their way to improving.
For which  I am very grateful, BTW, because more quality GSDs available in
our country is a wonderful thing.
D. Their trainers are absolutely amazing. I have had unfortunate experiences
with some of the Fidelco staff but never with a trainer. Every Fidelco
trainer I have ever met or worked with was comparable in respectfulness,
competence and knowledge to my favorite Seeing Eye trainers. The great thing
about home training is lots of one-on-one time with your trainer and the
terrible thing is also lots of that one-on-one time. If you like your
trainer and work well with them, then it is heaven, if you do not get along
well, then it is hell. I was lucky to have great working relationships with
all of my Fidelco trainers. Now, I counsel caution regarding their policies,
and what you say and how you say it to various staff members such as office
staff, board members, etc., but the trainers themselves are absolutely
great. I have met and or worked with 6 of their trainers, so that's a
good-sized sampling for a relatively small school. However there was a lot
of staff turn-over, which brings me to the list of cons.

A. The trainer who placed me with Drew retired, was fired, laid off, I'm not
sure, in September after placing a dog with me in July or August, and they
did not re-assign her cell or change the greeting on the voice mail so I
left her messages requesting assistance not knowing that she was no longer
there. That January another trainer came to do a placement with a dog that
she and I mutually decided was not a good match, and by the time I was
placed with Paisley in summer of 2007, that trainer was gone, again, for
what reason I do not know. I do know two of the trainers that I met are
still there today and the other two I am unsure of as to whether they are
still there. The head of graduate services also sort of disappeared from the
scene around the time I was retiring Paisley and I think that his departure
had something to do with my unsuccessful reapplication to Fidelco for a
successor. So yeah, high staff turnover, can be especially is rough, when
the trainers are one of the best things about the school.
B. Lack of transparency. They never had as good transparency as TSE, but it
used to be much better. Example, their model of puppy raiser contact used to
be great, I think preferable to TSE's current, no contact policy or other
school's full and encouraged contact policy. They would ask the raiser and
the grad if they wanted contact, and if both did, then they exchanged
information and the grad and raiser could take it from there, if either
party did not wish it, then there was not an exchange. However, this policy
has now been changed to mirror TSE's policy of no raiser contact at all.
Other examples, great and small abound of how the transparency of the
organization has decreased over the past two decades, especially after Mrs.
Caman's passing.
C. Problems with placements. It is going to sound contradictory no matter
how I try to explain it. After all, Fidelco is the reason I am now so
devoted to GSDs. People have asked me "Heather, if you had problems with
your GSDs, then why the heck are you so dedicated to the breed?" I guess
what I can say is heartfelt but a bit circular or incomprehensible, and it
is this "Look if I could have so many problems with my Fidelco GSDs and
still be absolutely in love with the breed, then there must just be
something very special about the breed and or, among the things Fidelco is
doing wrong, they must also be doing many things right." Beyond that I
cannot explain it. The first dog they gave me had an over-active
prey/herding drive and she started nipping at people in a herding, not an
attacking fashion and had to be retired. They took her to the school, worked
with her, then returned her to me and she nipped someone the next day and I
called the trainer who had left only hours before and said "Look, you need
to come and get her right now, because University Police is at my door and
I'm not turning her over to them or animal control, but you need to come and
take possession of her right now for her sake." It was a minor nip that left
a red mark, but did not break the skin. It was very traumatic as there was
not much time to say goodbye, and due to being away at college, retiring her
to my mom's house was not a viable option either. The school kept saying
"It's not your fault. You are doing everything right." Which is not a
comfort, let me tell you. I kept saying "Please find something I am doing
wrong, because if I am, then that also means that I can fix, change or
improve it and solve the problem." They brought a dog in the winter but she
was overwhelmed by large groups of children and I was in the music education
program to teach elementary school aged children, so the trainer and I
agreed that she was not a good fit for my life, but that she could certainly
serve someone who did not have to deal with such large numbers of kids on a
daily basis. In the summer, one year after I got Drew, I was given Paisley.
She was a great dog and worked for two years. She began to bond with my
husband, despite the fact that he never fed or watered or relieved or
groomed her. He did not walk her or play with her. He had very limited
contact with her, just saying hi to her and sometimes scratching her behind
the ears if she was on the couch with the two of us. However, Paisley was
very observant, empathic and sweet. She picked up on his PTSD and decided
that he needed her help more than I did. If we worked with him around at
all, she would go crazy to try and stay near him, would get distracted from
her guiding and follow him, refuse to turn and go a different way from him,
look at traffic reacting to mini vans like the one that Jim drove. If we
were out without him she was fine, accept that in our neighborhood she would
keep trying to take me home. The trainer who came told me that I had let Jim
pay too much attention to her, even though this was absolutely not the case.
I do get that this must happen sometimes with some negligent handlers who
flout the rules, but I had not done that at all. In hind sight, what I
should have done was retire her, retrain her as Jim's Psychiatric service
dog then apply to another school for a successor for myself. At that time
the ownership policy would have allowed this, but obviously now, it does
not. But I didn't know about psych dogs for PTSD and so I returned her to
the school. I think that had Jim had his own psych dog when I got Paisley,
she would not have felt the need to take care of him. I think it started one
time when Jim hit the deck and took cover under a bench when fireworks went
off. My mom and I and baby Jeremy were in the van on the side of the road
when Jim went to retrieve a cooler from the place we had accidentally left
it. He was out of the van a ways away, near the beach when the fireworks
started going off. We could not just stay on the road like that and I was
worried about Jim. So, I had Paisley go and find Jim. She lead me to him,
where he was unresponsive under a bench. I think that flipped a switch for
her that he needed help and she was going to help him. Every time I asked
her to ignore him, or to work for me and not for him, when he was around
just caused her anxiety and frustration. There was nothing I could have done
to make her a viable guide for me, and nothing I did to cause this problem,
but the first two trainers who had worked with me were not there to advocate
for me. The graduate rep. was also gone or on his way out so he couldn't
help either. I went through an appellate process when denied a successor and
had to write explanatory letters when they would not even clarify what their
reasons were fore denying my application. Had I or Fidelco known more about
PTSD or psychiatric service dogs in 2010 this situation would not have
turned out the way it did. Neither of my dogs from TSE ever had this
problem, partly because Jim already had his own psych dog at that point,
partly because I made TSE aware of Jim's PTSD, and partly because I was even
more paranoid about keeping the dogs at a distance from Jim. When I first
brought each home I told Jim not to make eye contact, or to pet them on any
occasion for several months and to minimize even saying their names. I do
think it will feel very good to see Fidelco reps at convention and have them
see how I am successfully working GSDs from the Seeing Eye, who trusts and
believes in and communicates with me in a way that Fidelco could not or
would not.

Bottom line? I would recommend Fidelco to some people in some situations,
but overall I have strong reservations. I love Fidelco in many ways and I
really hope that they can change some of their policies and rebound to where
they used to be in terms of quality when the Camans were still alive. I
harbor no ill will and very much want to see them continue as a school, to
thrive and flourish and improve, because I believe in their mission, their
dogs and their trainers, and I don't want to see them disappear or to
continue as they are.

PS, when I got my dogs the ownership contract was not as good as the Seeing
Eye, but it wasn't as bad as it is now, either. Additionally, I did not have
to undergo any background check of any kind. I had to submit references and
such, but that is standard operating procedure at any responsible training
program.

Heather Bird
"They came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't
a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I
wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a
Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up." -
Martin Niemöller
In our diverse society we must never fail to speak up in the face of Human
Rights violations lest we be the next targets of such violations.

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of NAGDU President
via NAGDU
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2017 9:40 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Cc: NAGDU President
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Criminal background check

Dan,

	I agree with you and have asked Fidelco for more information. I am
very doubtful, though, we will get an answer to my inquiry, since Fidelco
believes, as stated by their Chief Operating Officer, Julie Unwinn, that we
do not deserve answers to our inquiries nor input into their policies since
we do not pay for the services they provide. We are only the beneficiaries
of such services paid for by their assertions that they help the blind.
Their convoluted arguments reflect the arrogance of their CEO, Eliot
Russman. 

	While doing a little more research on this issue, I found a very
interesting website with numerous comments from past employees about the
corporate culture of Fidelco. You may want to take a look for yourselves!

https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Fidelco-Guide-Dog-Foundation-Reviews-E6546
08.htm

Fraternally yours,
Marion

Marion Gwizdala, President
National Association of Guide Dog Users Inc. (NAGDU) National Federation of
the Blind
(813) 626-2789
President at NAGDU.ORG


The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise
expectations because low expectations create barriers between blind  people
and our dreams. You can live the life you want! Blindness is not what holds
you back.


-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Dan Weiner via
NAGDU
Sent: Sunday, June 18, 2017 10:29 PM
To: Alana Leonhardy via NAGDU
Cc: Dan Weiner
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Criminal background check

I don't know, guys,is it really necessary, I mean, unless a school can tell
me or convince me that they've had problem with people with criminal records
in enough cases that this is warranted, I would be very hesitant to just buy
in to that type of reasoning.

So let's see, all  do you need a criminal background check to receive
services for the blind? What about other comparable services, yes I know, it
all boils down to the argument about what you're allowed to ask if you are
providing a service and ultimately it comes back to the same type of
arguments we hear about ownership, to give ownership or not to give
ownership.  If it were up to me, NAGDU and GDUI would be asking Fidelco why
this is so necessary.





On 6/18/2017 10:08 PM, Alana Leonhardy via NAGDU wrote:
> Hi, all,
> First off, if a school is going to require a background check, they
absolutely need to use a fully accessible website.
> On the issue itself, I think background checks are fine for a couple 
> of
reasons. I agree with some previous posters that having a criminal record
should not automatically disqualify someone from being accepted to
training...and if that's how some schools are doing things, then that's a
big problem. I think that, with some acceptions for various serious crimes,
things need to be looked at on a case by case basis.
> That being said, the safety of the dog isn't the only thing that needs 
> to
be taken in to account. There are also the other student's to consider. For
example, a person convicted of rape may be a fine dog handler, but it
wouldn't be fair to potentially put the other students in danger regardless
of how well that person may be able to work a guide dog.
> Alana
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Jun 18, 2017, at 07:03, Tracy Carcione via NAGDU 
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
wrote:
>>
>> A friend of mine is applying to Fidelco, and he had to undergo a 
>> criminal background check as part of the application process.
>> Fidelco told him the IGDF is recommending that all schools add the 
>> check.  He also said the website Fidelco used for his part of the 
>> check wasn't really accessible, and he had to have a sighted person 
>> fill
out the form for him.
>>
>> Just thought I'd share.
>>
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>>
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