Category: Animal House
Hello Can any one help me please tell me How you came to the decision of get your guide dog? I want one but I don't know going to college next year please tell thanks again. Erica.
It's all about how you would feel if you had one. I felt that having a guide dog would enhance my independence. With a cane, you have to actually find the object, and then find a way around it; whereas with a guide dog, you don't have to worry about looking for anything becasue the dog will walk you around it. Then, there's the question of how you would feel taking care of an animal every day. Do you like animals? Do you think you could handle the responsibility of caring for a dog every day, making sure it gets excercise and eats its balanced diet they tell you about at the school? You get my point. I decided to get a guide dog, just because I've always loved dogs, and think it will help me with my traveling skills as I make my way through college, and future life. There will come a day when I will have to retire him or her, and that will be very difficult. Then the process will happen all over again. *smile*
thanks there that not the big problem for me but I have anyother dog who doesn't take to other dogs or people. but I thing I do want a guide dog maybe I will fill out papers and see what happens with it. thanks again keep the answers coming.
It's a decision that should not be embarked upon lightly. You need to take into account the extra costs of having a dog, the alterations in your daily schedule (you can't just hang the dog up in the corner like you would your cane...), as well as the effects of training on you and your life. Leaving home for a month is no small undertaking. Also, you need to have exemplary mobility skills. No reputable school will take you unless your cane skils are up to snuff.
I chose to get my guide between freshman and sophomore year of college. I didn't apply to receive one before that because I knew that I wasn't ready for the responsibility yet. You can't just say, Oh, well, I want a dog because he/she will lead me everywhere. It's so much more than that... The partnership you have with a guide is unlike anything else out there, and as I said, it's a decision that needs to be thought about carefully.
Saying all that, I don't regret getting my guide dog at all. I love her to pieces, and she does great work and is pretty much the most adorable creature on the face of the planet (uh not like I'm biased or anything...). I also don't regret the school I chose to attend (The Seeing Eye). The training was thorough and comprehensive, and I've received help immediately when I called the school about problems we were having.
Hope that helps.
My thoughts exactly.
All these posts are right. Getting a guide dog is a big decition, one that shouldn't be taken lightly. Have you decided on what school you want to go to? Depending on where you live, you should concider looking in to different schools. All schools train a little bit differently, but each school trains their dogs to be guides. If you have a dog that isn't good with other people and dogs, then you might want to ask the schools if they could help you. The biggest fear I have is of my dog getting attacked. These dogs cost a lot of money, and if something happens to them, it could be a problem. Voyager is a great dog, and I love him to peaces, but you will have your bad days. The training will be the hardest part, along with bringing the dog home. Really think about your decision before you make it.
Yes, theese posts are rite. It is a big disition getting a guide dog. For me nun of my family like dogs just me. I applyed in 2000 and was turned down because I didn't know how to talk to dogs. But I got my guide dog. But now I wouldn't part with Luke for any reason.
Also, think honestly and realistically about whether you travel enough to need a dog. I've known people who get a dog, then keep them cooped up in an apartment most of the time, and to me, that's really sad.
Good orientation skills help, too, in addition to good cane skills. If you don't know where you're going already, or have a good general idea of where you're going, the dog can't help you.
If you're a person who prefers to have more physical contacts with the surroundings, then a cane may just suit you better.
Just some more thoughts to mull over.
Good luck!
Hello all I am still ponering all the choices. but I know some thing I like and don't like I don't want to go to seeingeye because you don't know who the puppy raiser was and I hear that they don't work well with some one who has a hearing imparement. and I want to go for my first dog away from hope so I am on the same feild with the dog. and I am going to college in the fall so I am going to get use to the campes first. with my can and the school I really like is gdb and second choice will be guideingeyes. let me know if these are some good choices for a first time guide thanks again Erica and the pet dog is about 1 ft high that it.
GDB is a very good choice for one's first dog, or at least, it was for me. The instructor student ratio is four to one, and you get personal one-on-one time with the instructor, as they help you work with your new dog, which they have been training for months.
Graduation day is the second-most exciting day out of training because that's when you meet your puppy-raiser(s), if they can make it. most of them usually come, and lots of happy tears are shed. *smile* A field manager or instructor will come to your home area once in a while to follow up with you and make sure you and your dog are keeping active, and to answer any questions you may have for them. Before you graduate, you will know who your regional field manager is, and be given their number.