[NAGDU] Graduate feedback

Fri Jun 7 14:34:18 UTC 2024

I have had two dogs from the guide Dog  Foundation, and I have actually been pretty impressed that they have made some obvious changes due to graduate feedback. A couple examples. GDF teaches their dogs to leash guide in a very specific way in certain situations. At one point, they stopped training dogs to leash guide. Several graduates expressed our concerns as we found leash guiding to be incredibly useful. Several of us were given the opportunity to talk to the Director of training at the time, and I think this resulted in a better understanding of the benefits and potential downfalls of leash guiding.  Shortly after, GDF started training leash guiding again with some changes to make it more safe and effective. In addition, I had expressed some interest in the way dogs were taught to handle stairs during one of my interviews in my second class. It led to a productive conversation with the guide dog program manager, and they actually started implementing one of the potential methods we discussed during that conversation a few months later.
Danielle 
Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 7, 2024, at 8:18 AM, Al Sten-Clanton via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Having never had contact with any puppy raiser of one of my five dogs, I'm curious why some see this as quite important.  I don't mean that it wouldn't be nice and sometimes useful:  there have been a few times when I wanted to ask some questions about my current dog and my third one.  That said, if my school can help me with any problems I have, as it has from time to time, I doubt I need that contact.  Also, given how much folks can track other folks these days, I wouldn't want the puppy raiser to claim some privilege to tell me how to deal with my dog.  Even connections that begin with mutual cordiality can go wrong, and I wouldn't want somebody who is mostly a stranger to think he or she or they could take a hand in my care and work with the dog.
> 
> 
> Mind, I'm not closed to the idea.  Had that sort of thing been The Seeing Eye's practice when I first went there in 1979, I'm pretty sure I would have thought it was fine, unless a problem came up.  Sheldon's raiser wrote up a good and sometimes amusing commentary; it helped some, though I'd have been glad to know more.  But not very far along, I think, what the puppy raiser could tell me would ge less and less helpful as I learned first-hand (or is it first-paw) about my dog, and the school will almost certainly be my best source of help.
> 
> 
> I also note that I've heard only fragments of Seeing Eye's notions about contact with puppy raisers.  I'm therefore interested not only in alternative views but, if anybody can tell me, a better understanding of Seeing Eye's.
> 
> 
> Best!
> 
> Al
> 
> 
>> On 6/6/24 23:56, Sherry Gomes via NAGDU wrote:
>> I went as far as submitting an application to TSE when GDB denied me after over 40 years, because I refused to continue to work with an unsafe dog after trying for five years. I'd applied to TSE when I was in high school, applied to both TES and GDB, which were the only schools I'd hear of in the 70s. I told both schools about my juvenile arthritis and my fused knee, range of motion and chronic pain. GDB said we can get you a dog, TES said I couldn't possibly work a guide dog. But by the time I retired my last GDB dog in 2019, I knew TSE did not have that policy anymore, and I came very close to picking them, because I knew what a fantastic reputation thy have and I wanted the best possible dog. In the end, I didn't follow through, because of the puppy raiser issue. I'm personal friends with a lot of puppy raisers, not necessarily any that raised my dogs, and I could never attend a guide dog training org that wouldn't let me and the raiser choose to be in touch. I got a wonder wonderful perfect match from guiding eyes, but there's a part of me that will always wish I could have gotten a seeing eye dog. I love hearing about the training from all of you.
>> 
>> Sherry
>> Sherry.gomes at outlook.com
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Al Sten-Clanton via NAGDU
>> Sent: Thursday, June 6, 2024 7:32 PM
>> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users' <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: albert.e.sten_clanton at verizon.net
>> Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Graduate feedback
>> 
>> I don't know in general how well Seeing Eye listens to its graduates.  I've felt free to tell the folks what I think the few times I thought I should, but of course I can't tell whether anything I've said had an incremental affect on changes.  Also, to listen respectfully is of course not necessarily to agree, and I consider that the place may be more right than I am on a given topic, but I have had a couple of good conversations with instructors and a couple of others with senior staff.  I also don't know how many graduates share my views, especially as I seem to be somewhat quirky in my thinking on a variety of subjects, including, to a small degree, on guide dog work and school operation.
>> 
>> Al
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Cindy Ray via NAGDU
>> Sent: Thursday, June 6, 2024 10:22 PM
>> To: NAGDU Users <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Cindy Ray <cindyray at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [NAGDU] Graduate feedback
>> 
>> Elizabeth asked an interesting question in her previous message. Do the schools appreciate our feedback when we are out using our dogs. If our experiences make us think changes could be well received in training, do they listen to us? Do they ever incorporate them. Do you feel heard when talking to the school if it is not about your current dog? Elizabeth, you can address that because maybe I didn’t make it completely clearly according to what you were looking for.
>> 
>> Cindy Lou Ray
>> Sent from my iPhone
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