[NAGDU] Risk Assessment Scale, Absolutely No School Bashing contained within,

[Heather Bird]

     Hi, Brenda and list. Well, I want to talk about low and high risks 
related to ownership policies. I am not going to bash any school or to 
debate whether ownership is a deal breaker issue, because for some 
people it is and for some it is not. What I want to do is to give you a 
rough outline of a scale you can use to look at how the situation of a 
theoretical handler might increase or decrease their risk for an issue 
of repossession of a guide taking place. You need not feel compelled to 
share your answers with the list, but it might be helpful to you or to 
other listers.


So, let's assume a few things and then consider them. A. You are a 
perfect handler, who receives the perfect dog, from a school who is 
always fair. In that case, ownership would matter only in the 
theoretical realm of blindness philosophy, but logistically it wouldn't 
make any difference to the team. However, no handler, dog, team or 
school is perfect. Next scenario. B. You are a great handler with a dog 
from  a not very reasonable school. There is some risk, but not too much 
if the handler plays by the rules. C. You are not a very competent or 
compliant handler, but your school is also not a very vigilant or 
punitive school, and so, no issues related to repossession of the dog 
are likely to arise. Finally, D. You are a substandard handler from a 
very aware and parental school. You are almost certain to encounter 
trouble. . As no school is perfect, every single school will on occasion 
be unfair to a handler, just as at every school there will be some 
handlers who screw up, that is life and the law of averages. I know of 
at least one handler from the following schools who has shared with me 
that they have had a dog taken back, where, if they are being truthful, 
I absolutely feel that the school was in the wrong, in whole or in part: 
GDB, GEB, Fidelco, GDD, GDF, UGDA (note, no longer exists) GDT. I know 
of at least one case of a handler engaging in handling and treatment of 
the dog that I do think should have warranted repossession of the dog, 
again, if they were being truthful, in which the school did nothing at 
the following schools: GEB, GDF, GDB, GDD, Eye Dog Foundation, UGDA (no 
longer exists) and Freedom Guide Dogs. Out of all of the schools in the 
country I would recommend the Seeing Eye as your absolute best bet for 
avoiding the pitfalls that can come from a school's ownership policies. 
I would say that Freedom is also a fairly low risk. I would say that 
Fidelco and GDB would be one of your highest risk schools and all of the 
rest fall somewhere in the middle of the risk spectrum in terms of their 
history of repossessing dogs for both valid and invalid reasons. These 
are not at all quality statements regarding the worth of either the dogs 
or the training programs.  I am simply speaking to the issue of 
likelihood of a dog being removed from the handler's care by the school. 
But, it is very important that you first figure out how much of a risk 
you face for an ownership policy to become troublesome for you as a 
handler. See below:


I would suggest that you prioritize or not, the aspect of the ownership 
policy in your decision making process based on how great of a risk you 
face for potentially upsetting your school. Now, I am not talking about 
harming, neglecting, beating or otherwise misusing or mistreating the 
dog, as A. you would not do that, and B. those would be reasonable 
grounds for your dog to be taken away. What I am talking about are the 
factors that often cause schools to take punitive action. Here is a list 
that is by no means exhaustive. See how many you check off, and then 
decide based upon that how important an ownership policy is for you in 
your personal situations. Each item has a number after it. Add up your 
points at the end and calculate your score, then look at the rough idea 
scoring guide. In each group of three, please only select one option, or 
if you don't ever fit any of those categories, then put down a zero. I 
will give you my score at the end. These are only examples and not at 
all value judgements about you or any other lister. They are guidelines 
based on what some schools have the potential to freak out about. Every 
school is different, every trainer or administrator is different, and 
schools can change over time improving or declining, so, keep that in mind.


A.

You intend to feed your dog a raw diet, either the BARF method or the 
prey model diet, 5,

You intend to feed your dog a home cooked diet composed of cooked meat, 
eggs, grains and or vegetables and vitamin supplements, 3,

You intend to switch your dog off of the school's brand to an organic, 
human grade or grain free dry dog food, 1,


B.

You intend to cross train your dog to perform tasks to mitigate a 
secondary disability that you might have such as adding medical alert 
tasks, psychiatric service, etc, 5,

You intend to add extensive additional training to enhance your guide 
dog's work, clicker training, target training, specialized find 
commands, running with your dog, retrieval tasks, etc, 3,

You intend to make some minor modifications to your dog's command 
repertoire, such as adding a command to turn about 180 degrees, to find 
and distinguish between words such as elevator, stairs and escalator, 
some mild hand targeting to aid in off-leash recall, etc, 1,


C.

You intend to engage in high intensity dog sports with your dog such as 
skijuring, agility trials, tracking or hunting or water rescue trials, 
etc, 5,

You intend to engage in some moderate intensity dog sports with your 
guide such as, fly ball, obedience trials, cross country skiing, walking 
marathons or half marathons with your dog, 3,

You intend to engage in mild sports with your dog, hiking, participation 
in walks such as 5Ks and 10ks, 1,


D.

You intend to do tyders before getting any vaccines for your dog, to use 
only essential oils for flee and tick preventative, to utilize herbal 
supplements for your dog, or to utilize the services of a veterinary 
acupuncturist, 5,

You intend to use conventional flee and tick preventative in the warm 
months and essential oils for control in the cold months, to use some 
nutritional, but not herbal supplements, to use tyders for some 
vaccines, to minimize the use of antibiotics in many situations, you use 
the services of an accupressurist, but not an acupuncturist, 3,

You intend to give all vaccines but to spread them out to separate 
visits, you will give flee and tick preventative year round, but you 
will separate it from the heart worm preventative by one week, you use 
organic grooming products, you engage in canine massage,


E.

You order and use an alternative harness such as one sold by On the Go 
or Paw Power Creations, switch from a chain collar to a pinch collar or 
a simple buckle collar, you have your dog where a light weight back pack 
to carry some of their own supplies, you dress your dog up in a full on 
costume for Halloween, 5,

You decline the booties the school issues and use Mushers' Secret 
instead, you use the school's harness but add harness signs and pouches, 
you switch from a chain collar to a toggle collar or a martingale 
collar, you put t-shirts and other things on your dog to help remote 
causes and fund raisers important to you, 3,

You regularly put decorative bandanas on your dog, you use a designer 
leash rather than the school's leash, you get a really flashy fun collar 
tag, 1,


F.

You regularly participate in marches, protests, march in gay pride 
parades or other potentially controversial demonstrations, such as right 
to life or right to choose, 5,

You occasionally attend marches and protests, but they are not frequent 
and are on the tame to moderate side, 3,

You rarely, but sometimes attend controversial lectures, art 
exhibitions, seminars, etc, 1,


G.

You have a spouse, adult parent or child living with you who has 
intensive special needs which can sometimes include violent outbursts or 
intense bouts of yelling or screaming, even if you have safe plans and 
management stratagies to use, 5,

You have a very hecktic life with one or more individuals in it who can 
become disruptive or potentially upsetting to your dog, 3,

You occasionally visit relatives or cliants who might have some of the 
challenges described in the first two options, 1,


H.

You belong to a minority group that often faces descrimination, LGBTQ, 
especially trans gendered individuals, individual with a green card but 
not full citizenship in the United States, are a member of a polyamerous 
relationship, etc, you belong to a highly controversial organization or 
political party, in which you working your dog might be noticed in 
public or in publicity, such as the KKK, the communist party, the 
socialist party, the Nazi party, (yes, these extremely contraversicial 
political parties are legally allowed to exist and legally allowed to 
peacefully demonstrate, so I mention it, because the blind are not 
universaly "good" "inocent" or "well behaved" as many sighted 
steroytypes would portray us) 5,

You are a member of a less controversial minority group, seventh day 
Adventist, strict Islam, orthodox Judaism, racial minority, etc, you 
belong to a group that your school is moderately likely to object to 
your being publicly engaged with while working your dog, PETA, Green 
Peace, the Tea Party, etc, , the occupy movement, 3,

You belong to some organizations which your school might object to your 
appearing in the literature or promotional materials with your dog, such 
as, NFB, ACB, La Leche League, Gay Strait Alliance, Black Lives Matter, 
etc, 1,


I.

You evaluate your schools advice, conduct research, and often make 
decisions that contradict the advice given in lectures, such as opting 
to give squeak toys, with close supervision, you will not give raw hide, 
but you think that elk antlers are acceptable, you wish to use another 
heart worm preventative than what the school gives you, you ignore 
advice not to play tug with your dog, never to take them to a dog park, 
never ever to give your dog people food, etc, and if your school 
challenged you, you would counter, respectfully, with research that 
supports your choice and expect to be able to have a reasonable and 
civil debate about the issue, and would most likely continue with your 
practice if you truly felt that you were in the right, 5,

You occasionally do something different from what your school told you 
to do, but it is not all across the board and if your school asked you 
to stop, yew would be willing to do so, but you would expect to be heard 
out as to your reasoning and not to be penalized, 3,

You rarely do things at odds with your schools advice, but you do not 
follow their guide lines to the letter and if asked to comply you would 
do so right away and with apologies to the school, 1,


J.

You take your dog to very stressful environments, thoughtfully, 
carefully and knowledgeably, such as parades, amusement parks, Time 
Square on New Years, brothels in places where this is legal, to watch a 
space shuttle launch, fire works displays at a distance, or at the event 
with ear protection for the dog, hiking in truly remote wilderness 
areas, white water rafting, 5,

You take your dog into situations such as dangerous inner city 
neighborhoods, crowded festivals, to dog shows as a spectator, into 
jails or psychiatric wards, rock concerts, strip clubs, adult book or 
toy stores,etc, 3,

You take your dog to, cruise ships, musical theater performances with 
very loud music, theater performances with fake violence, gun shots, 
smoke and strobe light effects, bars, especially controversial bars such 
as gay bars or biker bars, 1,


There are ten groups, so your maximum score could be 50, your minimum 
score could be 0, a low risk person might have a score of around 10 to 
20, a very, very low risk would be a score of 0 to 10. A moderate risk 
handler might have a score of 20 to 35 and a high risk handler might 
have a score of 35 to 50. My score is 40. What puts me into this 
category? Things like having a spouse with PTSD who is never violent but 
who can yell a lot and rarely engages in behaviors like hitting a wall 
or slamming a door, using a harness made by On The Go, not my school's 
harness, feeding a raw diet, being a woman who unashamedly breastfeeds 
in public with my guide laying at my feet, teaching extensive additional 
commands, although not cross training my dog for other disabilities, 
walking 5ks with my dog and fully intending to acclimatize her and I and 
try to walk a marathon or half marathon with her, marching in protests, 
attending parades or a fireworks display from an increased distance, and 
also with ear protection for the dog, and so on.


For me personally, an ownership policy is one of the most important 
issues. If you scored 50? Then not considering ownership would be truly 
foolish, but that is a true extreme, and I highly doubt that you would 
score a 50. If you score a 0, then rest assured that your risk is 
virtually non-existent, and aside from any philosophical objections you 
might have, the functional reality for you makes ownership a non-issue. 
Again, I highly doubt that you scored a 0. You can do this on your own, 
think about your score, and certainly any other factors I may have 
missed, then you can decide for you personally whether the ownership is 
a thing or not, and either way, you must do what is right for you. So, 
I'm not debating the ownership question. For me personally it is 
supremely important, it might also wind up being a crucial point for 
you, or it might be a virtual non-issue. However, you should not rule it 
out as a potentially crucial factor until and unless you have assessed 
your risk for encountering difficulties with your school based on who 
you are, how you live, what you do, how you handle your dog, what 
challenges you face, etc.


I hope twas helpful.







5/19/2017 12:36 PM, Brenda via NAGDU wrote:

> Hello List,
>
> this week my pet dog Sadie passed over the rainbow bridge.  She was 15 
> years old and we had a wonderful life together. She is playing with 
> her cat sisters who have gone before her. I will miss her and am still 
> sad, but she is no longer suffering so I'm at peace.
>
> As my vision waned over the years, I became more and more interested 
> in getting a guide dog, but sadie who was an APL rescue didn't like 
> other dogs. I did get O&m training to maintain my independence and 
> have been using my skills and now I am ready to apply for a guide.
>
> I have been surfing the guide dog school websites and reading posts 
> from here and elsewhere about different guide dog schools and am now 
> trying to sort things out.
>
> Several schools at the top of my list do not grant full ownership. 
> This concerns me, but other than that I like the schools.  One school 
> that does grant ownership is in California.  I live in Ohio and don't 
> want to be on a plane for a long time.  that may be silly, but I can't 
> get over it.
>
> So...I would appreciate Listers input/opinions/guidance/thoughts on my 
> situation.
>
> the school I really like is Guiding eyes for the Blind.  They do not 
> grant ownership at all, but I have not heard/read  anything negative 
> about them. I doubt they are in business to develop teams only to take 
> the dog away.
>
> My intent is not to debate ownership issues.  I want to learn Listers' 
> experiences with nonownership schools with the focus on GEB.
>
> Thanks for any input.
>
> Brenda
>
>
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