Category: Animal House
Hey everyone,
My first GDB home visit is in less than a week, and I'm both nervous and a tiny bit scared.. So I have some questions for you all, who have gone through this..
1, I was told by the person coming, to figure out a 8 block route and have it planned for the day they come, I asked if it should be a route I am extremely famillier with, and was told no, part of it should be easy ( a route I do all the time ) and part of it should be a harder route that is challanging for me.. The question I have about this is this: my sight changes day to day, and this person is coming at 9:30 in the morning, should I wear my dark glasses so that I use my eyes better, or shall i NOT wear them so that I rely on the Cane more??
2, Should I dress up nice, or just wear whatever I normally do??, (sweatpants and t-shirt), I was thinking of wearing a skirt and blouse, but I feel really uncomfertable in that and it might make me have worse nerves while I'm out with this person..
3, What kinds of questions should I ask? I know alot about guide dogs and the responseabilities, but i'm a little nervous as to what kind of questions to ask..
4, What kind of questions will the GBD rep ask??
5, What kind of stuff will he/she be looking for when I'm walking, is it just my cane skills and my O&M skills? or is it my whole personality and demeanor?
Ok, so thats about it, at least all I can think of at 2am in the morning...
Thanks in advance..
Well in sixteen days it'll be exactly a year since I had my interview with GDB. If I may ask, which representative will you be meeting with? If it was the same one I met with you may be in for quite a ribbing. Don't get me wrong, the lady was very nice but she took points off me, for lack of a better term, for some things that were hardly within my power to control. For one thing we just happened to get 40-mile an hour winds, or what felt like 40-mile-an-hour, on the day of my interview. And when you've got such strong winds directly at your back and in your face for most of your walk it makes it rather hard to move gracefully, especially when you're as small as I am. She also told me, though in a roundabout sort of way, that I lived in too dangerous of an area for a guide dog because there are large stretches where there are no sidewalks. Remarks like that of course beg the question of why, if that's going to count against you for getting a guide dog, training in sidewalkless areas is even part of the curriculum.
But I could just be blowing hot air since after all I don't know who they'll be sending to meet with you. All I can say is try not to worry yourself too much over it. In my experience that's a really great way to make yourself screw up. As for clothing, I wore casual clothes and the rep didn't appear to mind. They'll probably look at your cane and O&M skills and, in your case, how much you rely on what vision you have, since too much of that can hurt the partnership. They'll most likely also look at your living situation to see if there's anything that could be harmful or distracting to the dog. One example is the baseboard heating in my studio apartment. She told me those got too hot for the dogs, but since I don't run my heater much unless it's really cold that shouldn't be much of a problem. Actually these days the only thing that's keeping me from applying at more schools is the financial concern, since I really think it's possible that having a guide dog might give me more incentive to go out walking more. I've never been the type of person that finds pleasure in walking just for the sake of walking, but both my folks and I think it's at least possible that if I had a guide dog it might help with that since I'd be keeping both myself and the dog in practice for times when I really did need to go somewhere. Good luck with the interview though. Let us know how it comes out.
Hmmm. Questions to ask. I was like you. I had done all the research and didn't really have any questions. I asked my interviewer about introducing a guide dog to my pet dog. I was very concerned with how that would go. (It went fine, by the way.) They didn't seem to mind that I had very few questions. They will be able to tell from talking to you that you have done the research so I don't think it will be a big deal if yu don't pepper them with questions. On your walk, do whatever you would normally do. If you would normally wear the glasses, then do it. Dress comfortably and just be yourself. They're not there to judge you. They will ask you about your lifestyle. How often do you go out? Do you travel? Use public transit? Work? Go to School? How often do you travel by yourself? Do you go to the store with someone or can/will you go alone? They will also ask you about your friends and family and if they are supportive of your decision to get a guide dog. As for the route, I think they just want to see that you are familiar with your surroundings and that you can travel independently with acane and be safe. You should be able to point out places where you will be going with your dog. When I did it, they wanted me to be sure I included a street crossing with a traffic signal in the route. My best advice is just to relax. It's not as scary as it seems. The person who comes to visit will be very friendly and supportive. It's a very relaxed interview. I'm sure you'll do great. It sounds like you're more than prepared. Good luck.
thanks man for posting this, as I have a GEB interview in June, and am really starting to get nervous. I was just thinking of posting a board like this one to ask the verry same questions you just asked.
Hi, Emily. I don't have a lot of time ,but I'll answer what I can right now. Wear what you are most comfortable in, especially given that you'll be doing a lot of walking. The rep will probably ask a lot of questions about your living situation, your daily routine, the places you like to go most often, etc. As you travel, yes, they'll be looking at your O&M skills, but also things like your walking speed and style, and yes, your personality as a whole. They try to match the dogs by physical and personal characteristics of both of you. I'm not sure what questions to tell you to ask right now, I will think about that a bit. But, ask whatever comes to mind. This is cliche, but the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask cuz you didn't think you should. I'm sure those reps have been asked just about everything. LOL Good luck, and let us know how it goes.
Don't worry about the interview. I was nerv'ous, but my representative was really nice and helpfull. What people said as far as questions they may ask is correct. They r looking at both your O&M skills, and speed of travel. They will probably ask you what kind of dog you would like, although you may not get exactly what u requested, they'll try there best to give u the dog thats right for you. I requested a calm dog, and good gosh did I ever get my wish! lol He's just laying here beside me right now.
Another place you may want to check out is
www.gdblounge.yahoogroups.com
Its a list that u can join and we talk about everything to do with dogs and more. Its a wonderful place to ask questions you want answered. :)
Good luck on your interview and please keep us posted!
I love hearing about people in training and there new pups! :)
Jenna and black lab guide Bilko
Good luck!
And to you as well, MusicMaster. I hope both of you report back--I also love hearing about experiences of people with their dogs
I've been to GEB twice, and neither time was I asked to plan a route for the initial visit! We did go out and walk in my neighborhood, but it was a very informal, no pressure situation.
I know GDB is an excellent school, but I would be put off by this approach. A woman in my recent class at GEB decided against GDB for a similar reason--when the rep visited her, she was told that her route would bore a dog!
I got my dog from GEB too.
Ok that's one of the most riddiculous things I've ever heard. I know dogs get bored just like we do, and they get stressed like we do, but still. I mean what are you gonna do, pay a rock band to drive by every now and then to spice up the route a bit? I got a similar, though different, story. The rep from GDB actually told me that stumbling in 40-mile-an-hour winds or even less than that, would scare the dog. She was very nice during the interview, don't get me wrong, but she just seemed far too strict about things which were hardly within my ability to control. About all she said to me that made sense was that I A. needed to get more familiar with my area and B. needed to work on a steady pull with the harness and not to walk past the dog whenever he stops. I have something of a long stride and I did do that several times. And yes I need to work on praising the dog when he does well and noticing if he starts to act up. But she came across as though I should have mastered this stuff overnight, as if such a thig is even possible. I ould understand the familiarity and certai things I would need to work on like that but the rest of it didn't make a lot of sense. For one thing none of us can control the weather, and for another there's no point in including sidewalkless areas in your curriculum if a person's going to be denied or even possibly denied a dog based even partially on that. Unfortunately, long stretches of sidewalkless areas describes most of Twin Falls and definitely my neighborhood in particular. And knowig me if I had to cross over to the other side of the street every few blocks just so I ould have sidewalks to walk on I'd get confused sooner or later. There are safety oncerns, I understand, but still. There's only so muc you ca really do. But I hope youur iterview goes well, or went well if it's already happened. Keep us all posted.
I got told by Bev Claymen (last name SP?) that the dog would learn the route round my neighborhood in about one shot, so they said to have some other roots ready. That I can deal with no problem. The thing I'm wondering is, do they mean all outside roots or inside. I know some outside ones, my neighborhood one being the best one that I know, but I do know some inside ones such as the root around the mall in Exton. Maybe that's what I'm getting confused on.
Well you'll get training for inside areas when you go to the school. Right now they just want to see your travel skills in general such as how well you cross streets.
Yes he's right. Just as long as you know your neighborhood, you should be fine. when I got Vernon from Seeing eye wich is a little different than GDB, but they all look for the same thing. He just watched how I used my cane and if I knew my neighborhood and somehow I got in lol. I did get a calm dog to, and he's laying in his spot, in my entry hall of my apartment lol. But it's interesting to hear about people's experiences with the different schools and what all happens I think at least. And something that my instructor showed me a few days ago when he came out to see me was that, when you're using the dog, especially if it's young and new, when you're on a street corner and you give the forward command, keep your feet planted where you are, and let them take the first few hesitant steps forward. If there's any danger, they'll bring you back to where you were and you won't get hurt unless there's some idiot driver on the road. I already knew that, but I guess I forgot. He said that it looked like when we were doing out juno walk, that I was a little nervous because obviously you wanna get across the street as fast as you can because you don't get much time, but he said as long as you do this, you'll be fine. People aren't going to want to be sued by running over a guide dog anyway, lol. So I wish you the best of luck with your interview. And let us know what happens.
Hmmm, maybe that's why I kept overwalkig during the Juno walk with GDB. Of course the wind we had didn't help one bit either. The second I lifted eve one foot off the ground I felt almost like I was airborn.
Hi, I would say wear what is comfortable since you will be walking, but also looks nice so that you can present a good first impression. I don't think they expect you to dress up, so don't stress over that. What they want to see is your personality, how you live, where you live, where you commonly travel to, the amount and intencity of your travels, and they will want to know about family members who you live with and other pets you may have. I would say to get to know a root that you feel comfortable with. make sure you do go across a street with a stop light. They are wanting to determine how well you can read trafic patterns through the sounds of the moving cars, and how confident you are crossing busy intersections. Song bird is write about them wanting you to wait for the dog to take the first few steps. This is also so that the dog can pull you in the direction that you need to go. I wonder if sometimes if we walk first, we may have a tendancy of leading or pulling the dog, and that's not any good for either the dog or the person. Make sure you ask any and all questions that you can think of. I don't think there is a dumb question, and that it is better to ask then go without information that can be helpful in the future. Good luck with your interview and please let us know how it goes.