Category: Animal House
Hey how many people have a guide dog on here and what school did you go to. Well hey if you want to join a group it is gdb group the address is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gdgusers
thanks my name is victoria
I went to seeing eye
Well I have gone to Fidelco, or they came to me. I just was at Guiding Eyes, till health problems made me with draw from training for the time being. Love using a guide though and plan to get mine as soon as my heart is better.
Went to guide dogs for the blind nearly 13 years ago. Holy wow! My dog is retired, but he is healthy and well...smile! Wags to all!
I went to The Seeing Eye
Hey, BlindBandit, why are you now interested in GuidingEyes after previously being interested in Fidelco? Just wondering, because it was the opposit for me. I had a bad experiance with GEB, and am now awaiting a dog from Fidelco. I've been so impressed with the quality of the shepards that I've seen from that school, but perhaps you know something that I don't. Should I be worried? What can you tell me? Enlighten me please. I hope that your medical problems streighten out and that you have a long, rewarding and successful partnership with your next dog, whichever school it hales from. My previous dog was a yellow Labrador female from Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Her name was Brittany, and although she was for the most part a constant pain in the ass, I loved that little puppy to pieces. I just retired her to a nice family that lives near by and I miss her very much. Keep on wagging your tails, lift your noses to the sky and let your ears fly in the breeze.
LaMusique, that's just the cutest thing ever! And I don't want to think about retirement, it would be so painful! I've got another good 5 years with my own big blonde pain in the arse, so, *handwaves retirement out of existence*
But anyway, I went to Guidedogs WA, which is in Western Australia, or rather, they came to me, since there is no training centre as such and all the training is done from the home. I think it's a fantastic system, but I don't have anything to compare it to, so who knows?
Chances are, that if it is outside of the US, it is a great school. Ok, I'm done America bashing. I used to love my country, then I grew up, became disallutioned, and only liked my country. When I compared it to other countries I disliked my country. Now that Bush is in office I hate my country. But, seriously, I'm very interested in the differences in guidedog training methods, as well as guidedog laws in other countries. If you have any interesting tid bits to contribute, or would just like to compare notes, feel free to private message me. Wag, Wag wag, waggle, waggeley, wag wag.
I don't have a guide dog yet, but I just took my test yesterday with GDB in California and am hoping for the best.
Cheers,
Caitlin
Hi guys,
Went to the Guide Dog Foundation in Smithtown, New York--an hour or so from Queens.
I chose them because they use the find command a lot--follow too. They are also the only school to teach leash guiding which I love and find to be a Godsend at certain times especially.
So in September of last year, I got a black lab/poodle cross named Adam--who I usually call Addy.
The neat thing was one of the instructors at GDF was formerly at The Seeing Eye--it was fun to "torture" him and make him talk to me about TSE and GDF's differing opinions, views ETC.
In Him,
Shanda and Addy
Well, I received my first guide, male dark yellow lab named Flip, from GDB in San Rafael, California, on February 15 of this year. I love him to pieces, so I don't want to think about retirement just yet ... I hope to get at least eight or nine years out of this boy. *SMILE*
By the way, does Fidelco only serve people on the East Coast?
I am planning on getting my dog this summer, but I'm not sure where yet. I'm thinking about GDB in calafornia too, and can't wait to get a dog! If anybody has any suggestions/recomendations please please privet message me. thanks for the help.
Jenna
I went to Leader Dogs in Michigan in 1998. Dusty was an awesome Yellow Lab. However, I don't think I'll get another dog for awhile.
Oops, I think I might have just sent my comments as a quick note to everybody! Oh well, silly me.
Anyway, as I was saying!
I Live in the UK and therefore have no choice as to where to get my dog from. Although there is another organisation over here which has just trained its first dog. It must be hard to work out which school would best suit your needs, and just as hard to recieve the level of support after training what with the distances from the various schools. Are all the schools funded through charitable donations in the US?
My lovely cross lab retriever Winnie is waiting to retire. I'm going to miss her so much, but at the same time I'm kind of looking forward to the chalange of a new dog. I have requested a German Shepherd this time around!
Hello everyone
I got my dog a male yellow lab named Lazlo from GDB in BOring Oregon last summer. he is 3years old weighs 72pounds and is 24.5 inches tall. He is a good companion for me and i love him. I love big dogs and im only 4'11 and weighs 122 pounds./ but he is good to me I wish everyone the best of luck who is getting there dog or already has a dog..
Sincerely
Tina and Lazlo
Fidelco now serves the entire continental United States, not sure about the two non-contiguous states. YAY! Fidelco rocks!
I got my first guide from The Seeing Eye. We finished training in June of this year. She's a little black lab named Hester (or Hester Prynne, or the adulteress, or several other less, er, nice names...:) ) She's a good worker, and I love her to bits. She's got the lab tendencies to sniff and scavenge, but... she's young. We're working on it. Pretty much, she's the best thing to happen to me in a while, and I don't think I'd ever go back to cane travel.
Hi!
I've applied to GDB and will hopefully have my home interview sometime this month. I'd love to hear stories or talk to people who have received their dogs from there. Feel free to add me to MSN or AIM, all the info is in my profile.
Thanks.
Kolby
Good evening. I have Barclay from the seeing Eye. Got him home last week and he is a Black lab about 23 inches tall and 65 pounds. He is working well, shows great iniciative and is rather calm at home which is a good thing.
Yeah, would never, ever, not in a million years go back to cane travel.
I posted on another thread with the same topic but thought I'd come here as well.
I'm going to GDB in CA during the May-June class. I've been talking and thinking about this since I started the application process in the fall. (any of you have the weird crazy dog anxiety dreams beforehand?) Anyway, my excitement only grows when I realize that indistinguishable ice-covered sidewalk and grass will be much more manageable with a dog. There will be no more 25 minutes of panicked wandering home on what is a 2 minute run for a bus on a normal day.
For those of you who have dogs, what do you recommend beforehand? I want to have some of the things that my dog will like or need before I fly out to CA. Crates, great beds, anything else?
I'm going to Guide Dogs For The Blind, though to which campus, I'm not sure.
Now, I know. the Oregon campus and hopefully in about three weeks That's only if my potential dog doesn't show signs of Pano, growing pains in the legs. I'm optamistic that he will be in good health.
Hey All!
Just a quick update to say that I have been accepted at GDB, and I will be going to the campus at San Rafael from July 01-28. To say that i'm excited is probably the biggest understatement of the year, and I will be blogging about my experiences there in my normal blog (See my profile for the link if you are interested).
Kolby
I have had two yellow Labs from Guiding Eyes, and really do like that school a lot. If anyone wants to know experiences about GEB as they're thinking of applying there, feel free to contact me. Heather, I'm just curious, what turned you away from them? That's totally and perfectly fine, I am really only just curious. I don't tollerate nor do I partake in school bashing on any level whatsoever. I believe that the different schools are out there to fulfill every person's needs. Not all of us have the same needs/wants in a school, and so...well... Also, as a side note, I have known the person you were roommates with at GEB for what feels like forever; we use to go to camp together, and my state is ever-so small, lol.
My retired guide, Katerina, worked for me for about a year and had to be retired due to the fact that she would much rather be a pet. She's living at home now, with my Mom. My current guide, Olivia, is amazing, and I love her to pieces. She is so enthusiastic to work it's crazy. I've had Labradors both times so far, both yellows as a matter of fact, and so I wouldn't mind trying another breed, either a Golden or a Shepherd. I'd gladly welcome the challenge. I think the main preference I'll stick to is that I would strongly prefer my dog to be female. I don't really know why, but I can't really see myself working a male dog...
The sex of the dog doesn't matter to me, but I specifically asked for a dog that's easier to handle. I'll just have to wait and see.
Hi,
I honestly don't care about the sex of the dog, though way deep down inside I think I prefer a female. I have nothing against male dogs, I just think I would be more suited to working with a female, but I will be happy with whatever dog I get. I'd love to have a golden retriever, but I know as soon as I meet my pup this summer i will fall in love with it and never want to let it go.
To Blind Bandot, why didn't you stick with Fidelco? I can understand perhaps changing schools, but good lord, going to GEB? I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole, but that's beside the point, I am more interested in your answer to my question about Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation as I am still waiting for a replacer dog from them and have been looking into other schools because of my Summer time constraints and my pressing need to not return to SUNY Potsdam with out a guide. And to, Polka dots and Moonbeams, I am currently applying to GDB as a possible alternative if Fidelco can't come through in time for me to train this summer, but it concerns me, if you recieved and retired a guide from them, why haven't you gotten another? Were you not satasfied with their dogs, or is something else an issue? Oh, and to IndigoJess, I am applying to GDB, so if you would like to share any of your thoughts and experiences while you are in training this summer I would welcome that. As for what to get, wait on grooming tools until you are sure of what breed you will get, for example, German Shepherds and Golden Retrievers do well with a nice little inexpensive product called a zoom groom, where as a labrador or a boxer might just need a grooming glove with little rubber nubbs on it, for removing dead hair. A Golden or a Shepherd would need a rake or a sharp toothed grooming loop where as a lab or boxer would need a blunt or round toothed rake or comb for daily brushing. A piece of clothing with the scent of your family members and or pets that live with you is a good idea so they can get used to the smells of these individuals before meeting them. Then when you bring them home they will think "Hmmm, this is new, but sort of familiar, I guess I can deal with this." The pillow from an oft used chair, the blanket from your cat's bed or from the foot of your parents' sibblings' spouse's bed is also a good choice. Wait on toys untill you get a dog. Some dogs like to fetch and tennis balls or hard rubber balls are best. Some dogs like to play tug-of-war and a rope toy or a heavy duty rubber tugging ring is great for that. Some dogs just like to run and a long line or a retractable leash is good for those dogs. And a dog that likes to play on their own might appreciate a toy like a cong that they can get food out of while playing on their own. But, avoid toys with bells, glooed on eyes or noses, stuffed toys or toys with squeekers inside. You shouldn't buy any food until you are sure what the school is feeding, and many schools use different brands or formulas depending on the dogs, so wait to purchase food until you know for sure, although finding a place that delivers dog food, or an easy to get to pet store with a wide selection of reasonably priced food before hand is a good idea. The school will probably reccomend a spacific brand of flee and tick preventative and heart worm preventative, and you can choose to purchase this through the school, but I would reccomend taking the opinion of your vet and of your school with equal weight and deciding which medications you will use. One eight hundred pet meds is great for ordering medications, as well as cleaning and grooming products, vitimins and other products for the health of your dog. Don't waste money on equipment, as anything, collars, leashes, harnesses, gentle leaders, etc that you will recieve from the school will be much better than anything you can find on the market. A good pair of nail clippers is a good investment though. Either the gillitene style or the scisors style is fine, but it should be very heavy duty, high quality and on the expensive side if you want it to hold up and last a while. If I think of anything else that you might buy I will come back and post here. Oh, and don't buy a dog bed or a crate yet. First of all your dog might not want a bed, many prefer to sleep on the carpet or even on bare floor, especially cool wood and tile floors in the summer time. During class or when you get home take your dog to a pet store and let them actually try some beds, and see which one they like best then buy that one. Just because your dog is crate trained does not mean that they will need their crate at home or at work, it is just an option, one you may not need to utalize, and the right kind of crate is on the expensive side, an investment that you don't want to make unless you need to. Also, keep in mind, a crate will take up a lot of room, especially in an apartment or a dorm room. And, you want to make sure that you buy the same sort of crate that the school uses and reccomends, that your dog has been trained with. And, to Kolbi, see you in class. Hopefully. Finally, to Liz.he idea of guide dog school bashing does not really appeal to me, but I am going to bash any school that gives a woman, a pregnant woman a guide dog with an eye problem that makes it unable to see at all at times, while working, endangering the dog, the woman and her unborn child, then when given the chance to help, and provide follow-up services tells her to just make the dog work, that there is nothing wrong with the dog. I am going to bash a school that takes a student's dog away under the pretence of helping it after a traumatic experience then refuses to return it even as a retired pet and then plays a childish game of keep away using the dog as a pawn and toying with the emotional well-being of the dog, the puppy raisers and the dog's former owner/handler. I am going to bash a school who gives a dog to a graduate with a tick on it that gives the student lime disease which lands him in the hospital and leaves him with lasting health concerns mainly with his heart. I am going to bash a school that carelessly lets a member of the kennel staff let a dog loose then accidentally lets a large heavy gate slam on the dog and break it's leg. I'm sorry, but that deserves some serious bashing.
Caitlyn, let us know how it turns out. I too have applied to GDB and, who knows, perhaps we might end up in the same class. DixieGirl, Upstate Guide Dogs used to teach leash guiding before they went out of business. By find command do you mean as in "Find a seat." which Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation uses, or, "Find the library." "Find the elevator." "Find the door."? Because Fidelco and a few other schools teach very spacific find commands such as that, especially find the stairs, find the curb, find the elevator, find the eskelater, find a seat and find the door, or find inside, find outside. Other schools teach you how to train your dog with spacific find commands which can be tailored to your environment, for example, "Take me to Crane." "Find the Union." "Find the pool" even. Orange Dolphin Spirit, that is very amusing, you recieved Flip on my birthday. That is very cool, give him a hug from me. lilstarlet09, if you and I both end up at GDB, as I have applied and you were thinking of applying, see you in class. Good luck. SisterDawn, that is amusing, my father's nick name, and what most if not all people call him is Dusty. His real name is Newland, but he hates it and no one really uses it. I would find it endlessly amusing were I to recieve a dog with that name, then I could say "Dusty, get over here." or "Dusty, go lay down." and each and every time my dad would do a double-take. fireworks77, yes, as far as I am aware all of the guide dog organizations in the United States are primarily funded by private donations, although I am sure that most if not all of them do recieve a reasonable amount of governmental assistance at least on some level. Is it true that there is only one guide dog training program in the UK, and that it is governmentally run and funded? As for wanting a Shepherd: they are fantastic, my prefered breed and wonderful dogs over all. I can absolutely understand your interest in requesting a German Shepherd, but be sure that you are suited to and ready for one. Yes, they are if not more intelligent than labs, certainly more driven and more focused in general. They tend to acquire much larger vocabularies than labs and many other breeds do and they are terribly smart, clever and a joy to work, but they are more demanding, bond more closely and need a much higher level of work and mental as well as physical excersize to be happy and healthy. A labrador left unworked will grow bored, and perhaps depressed, but will usually just sleep more and might start barking or chewing. A German Shepherd left unworked will tare your house apart maybe stop eating, feeling with out a purpose, and make trouble if they can't get satasfaction from working. Just some things to keep in mind. Liz, you of all people, being supposedly close friends with one of the people mentioned above as having a terrible experience with GEB should understand better than most why they are a substandard school. Well, it's all well and good to say effectionatly, "Oh, my dog didn't really want to be a guide dog, they would rather be a pet, so I retired them." but, for the time that one is working a dog that quote doesn't really want to be a guide dog unquote, one is putting both them self and the dog in very real danger. The school should katch such a dog in their screening, but as no school is perfect, failing that they should katch it during training of the dog, or in the team's training. That was essentially the problem with my first dog, coincidentally a yellow labrador also, and also from GEB. When I did traffic checks in training with Drew from Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation it terrified me. It terrified me because Drew actually performed the traffic checks, and it was only then that I realized that my previous guide dog had never once performed a traffic check, satasfactory or otherwise, not even during training. That is a very scary thought that the dog that you worked for two years was not protecting you, and even more so that a school would let you graduate with a dog like that who never performed a real traffic check while in training at the school.
Passionate&Natural, I'm saddened and distressed to hear about your experiences with GEB. I got my first dog there in 1998, and know 5 other people who have also had success with GEB's dogs. May I ask when this all happened? I'm considering getting my second, and assumed I'd just go back to GEB ... I have two friends who are going there in the next few months...
I am going to g d b or g e b
Hi,
I got my dog from GDA two years ago. He's a male black lab named Voyager, and I love him vary much. Like the rest of you, I couldn't go back to using a cane.
Serenity, I thought you had already filled out the application for one of those schools? Didn't you specifically tell me that a home interview was in the works? That's the impression I got when we spoke.
Hi Passionate and Natural, Yes there is only one training programme in the UK, but it doesn't get any government funding, its all private donations. I know this because I work for there fundraising department! I have my new dog at home with me for nearly two months now. I ended up with a poodledore, a poodle lab cross. she is lovely, and the first one to be trained in Northern Ireland. She is like a shepherd in some ways,but maybe not as highly strung! She's a very indipendent minded dog, and not that effectionate, unlike the lab retriever cross I had before her. She is doing some lovely work and I'm very pleased with the way its all going
I thought those were called Labradoodles. anyway, congratulations on your new dog. *smile* damn synthesizer won't pronounce it right
Ha, I just call them lab/poodle crosses. Same with lab/golden crosses. None of this labradoodle or goldador nonsense for me.:) The lab/poodle crosses are interesting, though. Here in the States, GDF breeds them, and Leader does, too, I think.
Officially, a labrodoodle has a lab for a father and a poodle for a mother. While a Poodledore has a poodle for a father and a lab for a mother. But I usually just call her a poodle lab cross, because most people over here can't understand my accent!
I have stuff in to GDB and GEB I find out next wednesday if I was accepted to GEB, and GDB still has to do the home interview if I am accepted GEB will be nov. 12 and GDB will be nov 18. hoping for either or. they both produce good dogs so can't wait for which ever school picks me.
I am going to GEB Nov 12th, which is totally awesome.
congratulations. *smile*
Guide Dog Experiences
Hi everyone,
My name is JoJo and I'll be going to Guide Dogs for the Blind next summer. I was wondering if anyone would like to share their guide dog training experiences while they were there.
Thanks,
JoJo
hey there guys,
i got my ennormously huge pain in the ass golden retriever shiloh from pilot dogs in columbus ohio.
I don't like school bashing but i do like reading about other guide dog schools.
i've had her for a year and i've been back too pilot dogs two times for her cause she has some dog issues.
And its only gotten worse since we have been back from the school the second time in august.
I've seen her behave around dogs she's walked past sixteen dogs when me and my boyfriend have taken her on walks around the lake afew days ago, and she behaves around dogs once she gets to see them and meet them every day like the dogs in the building.
But god when she's at the vet and other dogs start barking or whining she doesn't like it and starts barking and sometimes snarling.
I love my golden girl she's the first best thing to happen to me since i moved away from my family two years ago and i'd go nuts without her, she makes me feel safe when i'm out walking her and she's superb at guiding me through huge crowds.
But yeah she's very noise sensitive and i do have a prong collar.
ON April 3, i went to a job interview and there was a wheelchair dog there well it had to come in to the lunch room where we were at and shiloh was okay at first, well she started wagging her tail so i just sat there and held her harness in myleft hand and the leash in my right, and just held them both loose and told her to be good and to stay.
Well then the further it came in to the room because it had to head towards us to go punch the owners time card well she got up and tried to go towards it, but i didn't let her she had on her gentle leader along with the prong collar, and i had to correct her once to get her to lie down and then again to get her to stop barking then the people in the building helped me move shiloh away from the dog.
So i was told that if i took the day shift i wouldnt be able to bring shiloh cause they had an incident at the place where another service dog bit somebody there.i'm desperate for any help, i don't wanna give her up, i've put to much time and effort in to her to do that, i've gotten her over her fear of the dogs in the building where i live at, and she's more willing to go in to her crate to, so i just can't do that to her.
Help me please if anybody can feel free to add me to any messengers its in my profile,
Lots of tail wagging and shiloh kisses
shelly and the golden girl/diva shiloh
I got my girl Padgett from geb back in november she is a black lab, weighing 62 pounts and is 23 and a half inches tall. she is a sweet loving puppy, who loves to please her mother was a dog from guide dogs of canada and her father from geb, so i think that is cool since i am going to canada tomorrow not far from where my girl was born and things. she is very waggy and vocal a lot of the time not barking or anything she never barks, just little grunts and doggy noises. we have never never had an issue of her going after another dog, she tried to go after some birdys in a museum once, and told a bird that was yelling doggy how it was but over all she is really really well behaved, and loves to snuggle.
How well does she work? *smile* glad you are doing well with Padget. I lost Steven, but hopefully, I'll be going back in the summer to get another dog. steven has cancer so he had to retire.