[NAGDU] time to think about which guide dog school to apply to

[Lisa Belville]

Hi, Brenda.

I bet that school in CA is GDA, Guide Dogs of Amaerica. I went there in 
June, 2015 for my third guide, my first from GDA.  I live in IL, and I 
actually had three flight transfers from St. Louis to L.A, and one of those 
was in first class, so you may not necessarily have to sit for hours on a 
single plane.  <grin> And yes, they paid for the transportation to/from the 
school.

They grant full ownership upon completion of training.  We sign the 
ownership contracts the day before graduation and are free to do as we wish 
with our dogs once that contract is signed.  They're a smaller school with 
smaller class sizes and a very individualized approach.  They're not 
particularly costodial as far as treatment during training and they provide 
excellent phone or on site follow up if you and the school feel it's 
warranted.  Otherwise, they're very unintrusive.

Lisa

Lisa Belville
missktlab1217 at frontier.com
I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and 
procrastinate all at once.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brenda via NAGDU" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<NAGDU at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "Brenda" <bjnite at windstream.net>
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2017 11:36 AM
Subject: [NAGDU] time to think about which guide dog school to apply to


> Hello List,
>
> this week my pet dog Sadie passed over the rainbow bridge.  She was 15 
> years old and we had a wonderful life together. She is playing with her 
> cat sisters who have gone before her. I will miss her and am still sad, 
> but she is no longer suffering so I'm at peace.
>
> As my vision waned over the years, I became more and more interested in 
> getting a guide dog, but sadie who was an APL rescue didn't like other 
> dogs. I did get O&m training to maintain my independence and have been 
> using my skills and now I am ready to apply for a guide.
>
> I have been surfing the guide dog school websites and reading posts from 
> here and elsewhere about different guide dog schools and am now trying to 
> sort things out.
>
> Several schools at the top of my list do not grant full ownership. This 
> concerns me, but other than that I like the schools.  One school that does 
> grant ownership is in California.  I live in Ohio and don't want to be on 
> a plane for a long time.  that may be silly, but I can't get over it.
>
> So...I would appreciate Listers input/opinions/guidance/thoughts on my 
> situation.
>
> the school I really like is Guiding eyes for the Blind.  They do not grant 
> ownership at all, but I have not heard/read  anything negative about them. 
> I doubt they are in business to develop teams only to take the dog away.
>
> My intent is not to debate ownership issues.  I want to learn Listers' 
> experiences with nonownership schools with the focus on GEB.
>
> Thanks for any input.
>
> Brenda
>
>
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