[NAGDU] some questions about The Seeing Eye

[Kerri Sprecher]

Hi list,
I have very recently, after long and hard thought and consideration, decided that retiring my current guide dog would be the best for me, and for her as well, due to some major behaviors and some extremely unacceptable behavior from her school. Therefore, I have decided to go back to The Seeing Eye where I received my first 2 dogs, but it's been 12 years since I went there, and I know they have done some major renovations to the main building where the students stay, and probably redone or made changes to things outside the building too. So, I'm wondering, from all you TSE grads out there who have gone since 2006, what's changed and what's the same? Same harnesses with the screw-on handle? Same commands or any changes in student instruction? I know there are changes in staff members, and I'll learn those eventually when I go, but I'm more interested in things like whether they still have the big cement parking area for dog relief, or is it more private now like some schools have, and if they still do things like give you the pans of food the first week and then you get them the rest of the time? I also noticed that the class time has been shortened for both new students and retrains, which is also good.
Anyway, any insight would be great, and I'd enjoy any stories about your training there, or what you have seen improved or changed, etc.
Thanks for responding, and hopefully the application process won't take too much time, since I put in my replacement app and already one medical form has been sent back within a 3 day period. I'd also be interested to know if retrains still get a home interview or if they have to still go get an eye exam or have an opthalmologist report, or do they go on the previous record?
Looking forward to all of your responses. Thanks a lot, and have a great weekend to all.
Kerri


Sent from my iPhone