[nagdu] I was not excepted

[avapup.7 at gmail.com]

I am really surprised. This is Ava, with my owner-trained hearing and guide dog, Cocoa. I don't write much on list but I had to reply to this thread.

I have heard more and more often of instances like this from a certain unnamed school that I believe is the one you had the interview with, Jenny. It's not to say anything bad about them. But maybe some of their field representatives who do the interviews at home have some very strong and I think unfair expectations. 

I would not be able to trust an unknown dog in snowy conditions! On a dry, bright, summer day, walking a straight path that I knew well? That would be okay. But in the snow? No way. It wasn't like you'd been training with the dog for two weeks! I fail to understand why a Juno walk wasn't sufficient.

Before I decided to owner-train, the schools I contacted ALL said they had dogs with many different speeds, gaits, heights, energy levels, etc. so they could match their clients with the right dog. I know the schools I talked to never said all their dogs were required to walk at a certain speed. Some  dogs were naturally slower, some naturally faster, some taller, some shorter, and so on.

I never had an in-home interview, but none of the schools told me they'd bring a dog out to an interview.

I live in a snowy area, and it is just a fact that people don't walk or go out as much in winter. It's freezing, and the snow and ice, including wind chills, can be downright dangerous to people - and dogs! What a terrible reason to reject your application!

The school I know best is Pilot Dogs, just because I have talked with them most and also live quite near that school. I know a few of their graduates and see them working in my city, and they most certainly have fast and medium and slowly paced teams, including one lady who has an adorable but very slow-walking Boxer. 

There are so many schools, with so many different philosophies, and unfortunately also with many field reps doing interviews who perhaps ought not to be.... I know you will get in somewhere else, and I hope you end up with an amazing dog. Maybe applying to a school located in a place that gets a lot of snow would help? I can think of Leader Dogs, Pilot Dogs, The Seeing Eye, Guide Dog Foundation (I think that's the one in New York or somewhere close), and more, I'm sure, who'd be more understanding of winter weather.

I hope you have much better luck with the other schools you apply to. Honestly, it sounds to me like you are too good a handler to work with a dog that that school would place with you! You obviously have more common sense than the person who rejected you for what I believe are terrible reasons. I'm sorry that happened to you!

Ava and Cocoa 

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 16, 2013, at 11:48 PM, Julie McGinnity <kaybaycar at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Jenny,
> 
> So sorry to hear about this.  I can't imagine them telling you that if
> you can't walk fast, you wouldn't make it.  I believe you, but...
> Wow.  I am only slightly taller than you are, so I know that those of
> us who are short can only walk so fast.
> 
> Also, I know some schools make a bigger deal out of how much you walk,
> but I would say that as long as the dog is worked enough, you
> shouldn't have a problem.  What about the people who are older or have
> medical conditions that prevent them from leaving the house every day?
> I know they aren't always denied dogs.  Also, when I got my dog, the
> trainers were well aware that I was in high school and wouldn't do a
> lot of straight walking.  Like you, I did a lot of walking
> speratically throughout the day.  I was never told that was a problem.
> 
> Now I have a question from others on the list.  Is it common practice
> to bring a dog for home interviews?  I was not given a random dog to
> work with at my home interview with Guiding Eyes 6 years ago.  What is
> their rationale for doing this?  Why does a simple Juno Walk not
> suffice?
> 
>