[NAGDU] Experiences with Guide dog foundation

Tue Mar 12 20:10:42 UTC 2024

I love this discussion of schools.

I am actually switching schools this time around from Guiding Eyes to
Seeing Eye. It's scary, this school switching thing. I'm actually
pretty terrified. But I, likewise, did not feel heard by one of the
Guiding Eyes trainers, though my experience with GEB was extremely
positive, and I got two great matches out of them. I wanted to switch
to a school where I could own my dog upon graduation. Although I
looked into GDF, when I was actively applying to schools, they were
doing classes only every month, and it seemed like their class wait
time was pretty long.

I am going to class at TSE next month and cannot be more excited and
freaked out all at the same time. All that to say, switching schools
is understandable. Lots of handlers have done it for one reason or
another. GDF is a great school, and I've heard about lots of positive
experiences there. I do believe they require a video for admission, so
if that's not something you can do, I would consider bringing that up
to the school.

I hope this helps,

Julie

On 3/12/24, Jessica Sears via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> So, I am going to second this story with my own. I got my first amazing dog
> from GDB. We worked for a solid 8 years and even both moved from a small
> town to a major city and still made it somehow ha. He sniffed everything
> but I could work with it. For my second I actually went to GEB and it
> really was just not great at all. I never will school bash but I will never
> returned because I just felt not listened too. I told them the dog would
> not be a good fit, I explained he had to much energy for me, and when he
> basically destroyed my room in about 5 mins while I went to get a snack and
> did not zip the cage, they said I wasn't giving him enough time. I said ok
> the school knew better right? Well I had him for 9 months of hell and he
> chewed through everything from ethernet cables to a bunch of bananas in a
> bag. Now I am not messy ok but my home was lived in and the bananas were on
> the top of the microwave that sat on a counter That dog had a stomach of
> rock and how he never got sick I will never know. The deal breaker for me
> was that I straight up felt the school lied to me because when I spent
> thanksgiving with his raiser who was such a sweet woman, her and her whole
> fam said they were stunned he made it through his IFT test. I guess the
> first time he failed and they let him come back after they worked with him
> some. They said his house manners were horrible and they did report it to
> the school multiple times. That just got under my skin. I think these
> schools do us such a amazing service but I do think they owe us
> transparency also. As a side note, when I almost got hit by a car and told
> the school to please come and get this terror, they called me the next day
> and said that he was career changed immediately. He now lives in up state
> NY with an amazing family on 5 acres of land and runs free. I love that
> because he was a really good dog just not trainable. I guess I will say GEB
> did go out and work with him there also a few times over the years for
> chewing through fencing ha which was nice of them but he has finally
> showing ideas of becoming a bit better of a boy. Got my current in 2019
> from TSE and will after she retired be done because all of these ride share
> denial issues and just being at a different life place working from home. I
> do second that all schools can let us down and so can we as handlers. I so
> hope you find your fit. GDB did food reward which I don't like and TSE had
> hands down the best traffic training I've ever had. Every place can give
> you a great experience. Good luck.
> Jess
>
> On Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 10:51 PM Sherry Gomes via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Normally, I'd agree with everyone who says that sometimes matches don't
>> work out and it's nobody's fault, not dog, handler or school. But my last
>> dog from GDB well, I've always wondered. I signed petitions and wrote
>> letters the year their CEO fired over half the admissions and graduate
>> services staff. I definitely wasn't quiet about it. So, I was accepted for
>> retraining. I have other disabilities, so I have to have an easy to
>> manage,
>> slow pace, not easily distracted dog. Because I was working from home, I
>> was concerned they might not accept me, so I wrote a long letter to their
>> team that reviews applications, discussing it and routes I had. I also
>> wrote a strong list of things that I did or did not want in a dog. Number
>> one thing I did not want was a dog with strong dog distraction issues.
>> Hard
>> pulling, lunging, things like that could cause me to fall, maybe even
>> break
>> or damage one of my artificial joints, and if I fell, I could not get up
>> without help. Those at the school knew all about me. I got my first dog
>> there in 1975 and this was 2014. So, they gave me a golden retriever, and
>> she had the worst dog distraction issues I'd ever seen. She was not safe
>> for me. She was young, and I hoped she'd grow out of it. two weeks in
>> class
>> isn't much time for dealing with issues like that after all. But for the
>> next five years, this dog was not safe for someone like me. She lunged,
>> she
>> even got away from me a few times. I got to the point where I never wanted
>> to go out with her alone, and my best friend would come and walk with me,
>> to help keep me safe and to get the dog if she got away. After five years,
>> I'd had enough. I didn't get a guide dog to become even less independent!
>> I
>> applied for retraining and was denied, basically because they said I
>> didn't
>> try hard enough. Lol. I had multiple visits from field staff during those
>> five years. After GDB denied me, which felt like being thrown out of a
>> family for me after all those years, I applied to guiding eyes and GDF.
>> Field managers from the area I lived at the time did home interviews and
>> of
>> course walks with the dog and Juno walks. And both, without my prompting,
>> immediately said, that dog isn't safe; that dog is dangerous for you. Both
>> those schools accepted me and I went on both their waiting lists. I gave
>> the golden back to her raisers who lived near me and whom I knew well.
>> This
>> was in 2019, and then the pandemic hit. Guiding eyes was the first school
>> that came through with a dog for me in 2021, so I went with them. and I
>> have a wonderful guide dog. She reminds me every day that this is what a
>> guide dog should be like, good calm worker, sweet loving well behaved
>> companion at home. Starting with around 2000, it seemed any dogs I had
>> were
>> either great workers and bad at home or good at home and not great
>> workers.
>> I forgot they could be both. But, I'll never ever be bonded to any school
>> like I was GDB. My dog will be 9 in august, and at the advice of my field
>> person, I put in the retrain app last year. However, when Shani, my guide
>> dog, needs to retire, if guiding eyes doesn't come through, I'll apply to
>> GDF happily. I did not write all this to bash GDB. My best friend has had
>> three wonderful dogs from them, and I had a number of great dogs from them
>> before the last one. Just saying, that I often wonder, now I can think
>> about it all without feeling sick to my stomach or wanting to cry, if I
>> was
>> set up with that last dog, because I had been so vocal about my
>> displeasure
>> about what they did to their staff. But realistically, mismatches happen
>> now and then. Everything might seem fine in training and then things go
>> sour at home. You just never know. Dogs and humans, living breathing
>> beings
>> with their own strengths, flaws, fears and challenges. I wish you luck if
>> you apply to GDF. I've heard a lot of good things about them and try to
>> keep my ears open in regard to that school.
>>
>> Sherry
>> Sherry.gomes at outlook.com
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Leslie Hamric via
>> NAGDU
>> Sent: Monday, March 11, 2024 9:05 PM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users <
>> nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Leslie Hamric <lhamric930 at comcast.net>
>> Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Experiences with Guide dog foundation
>>
>> Hi Margo and all. When I went to get omega, I never had a dog switch until
>> I got her. I started out with a male black lab named Luke. He was pretty
>> stressed out from the first morning onwards. He would just not settle and
>> he was constantly licking his paws. This led to his pace being on
>> predictable and then on the last day I had him he would just spin around
>> and harnessed and didn't want to work. So looking back, I probably
>> would've
>> had to send him back even if I did graduate with him. So  I was glad when
>> I
>> got omega and she's just the perfect match for me at this time in my life.
>> Like others have said, mismatches can happen at a bigger school or smaller
>> school. Th The instructors do their best to mash us up with the dogs they
>> think will work for us, but no one knows what that's going to be like
>> until
>> person and dog start working together. I'd like to think of the matches an
>> educated guess.
>> Leslie Hamric
>> Cello and Braille Music Teacher
>>
>> > On Mar 11, 2024, at 10:46 PM, Margo Downey via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > Well, I don't have experience with GDF. I am wondering why you believe
>> a smaller school would be better.
>> >
>> > About matches not working out. I had to switch dogs after two weeks in
>> class. Those things just happen. It's unfortunate and no one is to blame.
>> The dog I received during the dog switch was just who I needed and I think
>> she felt I was who she needed.
>> >
>> > The best to you in your research.
>> >
>> > Margo and Tami
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Cindy Ray
>> > via NAGDU
>> > Sent: Monday, March 11, 2024 7:48 PM
>> > To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> > Cc: Cindy Ray
>> > Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Experiences with Guide dog foundation
>> >
>> > I haven’t had experience with that school, but I wonder what makes you
>> think a smaller school would be better. None of them is really large. I
>> also agree with what Joy says here. Things happen; matches don’t work out.
>> I had three not work out. It isn’t an exact science at all.
>> > Cindyray at gmail.com
>> >
>> > Cindy Lou
>> > Sent from my iPad
>> >
>> >> On Mar 11, 2024, at 6:15 PM, Joy via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Sorry, I don't have any experience with that school. As you are
>> >> researching, I admonish you to remember that there is normally no
>> >> blame when a match doesn't work. It isn't you, the dog or the school.
>> >> It's unfortunate and it hurts but it isn't generally anyone's
>> >> failure. I've been there once and I feel badly that Major didn't work
>> >> out but he is back with his puppy raisers and I believe doing well. I
>> >> will encourage you to look at all aspects of your experience and learn
>> from it.
>> >>
>> >> Best of luck and a hand extended in support and friendship.
>> >>
>> >> Joy
>> >>
>> >> -----Original Message-----
>> >> From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Sam Doman via
>> >> NAGDU
>> >> Sent: Monday, March 11, 2024 3:33 PM
>> >> To: NAGDU at nfbnet.org
>> >> Cc: Sam Doman <skdoman2001 at gmail.com>
>> >> Subject: [NAGDU] Experiences with Guide dog foundation
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Hi all,
>> >> I recently had to return my first guide back to leader after 6 months
>> >> of the match not working. I have been looking into some smaller
>> >> schools as a possibility and I wondered what kind of experiences
>> >> people have had with GOODF in NewYork. I obviously understand that
>> >> the school is not the only factor to consider, I just want to research
>> all my options.
>> >> Thanks for any help that you can provide.
>> >> _______________________________________________
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>> >>
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>> >
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-- 
Julie A. Orozco
MM Vocal Performance, 2015; American University Washington College of
Law, JD Candidate 2023