[NAGDU] choosing a school

[Andy Borka]

Hi Jean,

I recently graduated from Seeing Eye. In fact, Alec and I came home in August of this year. We will attempt to answer your questions as much as possible.

Food rewards used or not used
During training, food rewards are usually forbidden. The dogs are taught to drive from your love and praises after each successful task. Only when you get home might a trainer recommend food rewards along with clicker training. This is done after arriving home because your dog will not have any concept of where he/she is at the time. After building their confidence with a route, phase out the treats, then the clicker
Skill sets –Is Find the ... taught? If so, what objects or items are the dogs taught to find initially? 
They are taught inside/outside and doors. Aside from this, your dog is taught to generalize. An example is a table. If you normally sit at a table in a lounge, then ask your dog to find a table, he might take you to the one you would normally sit at, but he will take you to a table. After sitting in a specific spot for a few days, he will start taking you directly to that spot. Seeing Eye dogs are heavily patterned for your specific needs. Therefore, most of the patterning and generalization is done during class. Right now, Alec can find inside, outside, the door, home, park, the bus, the wall (at a specific street corner), the service desk at Walmart, the checkout register at Walgreens, the down ramp at certain street corners (offset crossings), things I drop on the ground (my keys on one occasion), steps (both up and down), cars I normally ride in, specific people he knows fairly well, and return points during a route. Most of these he learned during class or after getting home.
Traffic work – exposure to quiet cars
Seeing Eye has a quiet car they use during traning and traffic checks. During class, staff members will drive around in different types of vehicles. When students attempt to cross the street, they will give you and your dog a traffic check. A traffic check is a situation where the driver poses a potential danger to you or your dog. An example is pulling out directly in front of you during a crossing. One of these cars is a quiet car. Often, they request the general public give you traffic checks at random. I remember a time where we ended up boxed in between four cars during a crossing. The unfortunate complexity of this situation is the cars that boxed us in were still moving. Alec expertly guided me out of the problem and across the street. Traffic is an important topic. Roughly 4 hours of lectures are dedicated to handling traffic.

Application process: Number of references, home video 
The application process is not complicated. Go to seeingeye.org, click admissions, then apply, then apply online. You create a username/password. When you arrive at the application, you have to fill out sections related to contact info, vision, general health, mobility, references, class date preferences, etc. You have to provide three references. The cost for a dog is $150 paid to the school whenever you can afford to do so. When the initial application is approved, they send you medical forms to have your doctor fill out and send back. They will send a trainer out to evaluate your current mobility skills. Since you have a dog, I don’t know how they would evaluate mobility skills. In the same visit, the trainer would give you a juno walk. If everything is good to go, you will receive a class date. At that time, they would walk you through the legal paperwork and travel arrangements.

These questions have been answered based on my own experience, and what trainers have told me during class.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: Jean Menzies via NAGDU
Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2017 2:10 PM
To: NAGDU
Cc: Jean Menzies
Subject: [NAGDU] choosing a school

Hello all, 



Without going into the details now, I am looking at dog retirement, and getting applications started for dog  number 7. Even if I end up delaying exceptance, the paperwork will be good for two years, and there are reasons to get going on it now. 



My current dog is from Leader. He is wonderful, and I really like the skill sets that LD puts on their dogs. But in deciding if I stay or change schools, I want some information on the Seing Eye as well. 



For anyone who has been to either school recently, or for those who have been to both, I would like your thoughts on the following points: 



Food rewards used or not used



If food rewards are used, are they phased out or maintained



Skill sets –

Is Find the ... taught? If so, what objects or items are the dogs taught to find initially? E.g., empty chairs/benches, stairs up/down, pushbutton poles, doors, inside/outside, etc.? 



Traffic work – exposure to quiet cars



Application process: Number of references, home video 



I'm interested in comparing the skill sets and working styles of the dogs, so please, no info on meals, rooms, etc. That's not important to me. Any info anyone can provide on current training from the two programs would be appreciated. 



Jean 
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