It was really nice of you to give this in depth explanation and I learned a lot from what you wrote. I don't have a guide dog but believe it is wonderful to learn even if the information does not apply to me. It may come in handy for someone I meet. If I don't have that opportunity, I still have the knowledge you shared. Thanks.
Bonnie Blose -----Original Message----- From: viphone@googlegroups.com <viphone@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Sieghard Weitzel Sent: Sunday, December 01, 2019 7:41 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: Guide dog in United States-help me Please 🙏 Dave, that Amazon comment was very ignorant and entirely inappropriate. Kiruna is from India and you may want to remember that not everybody knows about everything. I am in Canada and I get lots of people who ask me where I got my guide dog from, how much they are and if I have to pay for them. And just in case this is something you didn't know, India is part of the Commonwealth just as Canada, Australia, Pakistan, Nigeria and other countries are so maybe it would be possible for somebody from a Commonwealth country where there is no guide dog school to apply to a guide dog school in another Commonwealth country and be accepted to get a dog. I am not saying this is so, but it is certainly possible. I am in Canada yet I can apply at any US guide dog school to get a dog if I so choose even though we have several guide dog schools in Canada. My first dog was from Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester, Michigan and among the I think 24 people who were there in my group to get dogs 4 came from Spain on some arrangement the Spanish government or maybe it was some sort of Spanish not for profit group had with Leader Dogs. Since nobody explained to Kiruna what the usual process is to get a guide dog, I will do so in general terms. You apply to a guide dog school, if it is the first time you get a dog from them they typically would visit you where you live, they would want to see your home and where you work (if you work) and they would also want to see you walk around with a cane or your previous guide dog if you currently have one to assess your mobility skills and so on. If they accept you, they will at some point let you know when you can get a dog, some schools have fairly long waiting lists. Once you get the date you have to go to the school for typically a 3-week training course where you get to know your dog and your dog gets to know you. Walking with a guide dog requires training just as walking with a cane does and if you have never had a dog you have to of course learn how to care for the dog, this includes grooming, feeding and picking up the dog poop in a little plastic bag; I know, sounds shitty, but I shit you not. After your course you get to take your dog home, some schools may also send a guide dog trainer home with you to do some more training in your own environment or some schools may ask you to come for a shorter course at the school and then you do more one-on-one training in your own city/town. In rare cases a trainer may even come to you and do the entire training with you in your city/town, but I think most schools would need a good reason to do this. Most schools also like to follow up with you on an annual bases and they may send a trainer to do a walk with you and evaluate how things are going. Keep in mind that when you get a dog that dog is not yours. I assume all schools are the same in this respect, but should you not care for the dog properly they do have the right to take it away from you and I have heard of a few cases where this was done. As for the cost to train a dog, including breeding programs, puppy raising, training and after-care it is I believe around $30,000 or $35,000 US so actually buying a guide dog is not something most people could afford if the schools weren't not for profit organizations who are financed from donations, fund raising events, money bequeathed to them and so on. I believe in England the government is involved as well and in Germany the health insurance pays for guide dogs as well as for things like dog food, vet costs etc. Lastly, remember the country where you live. How accepted are dogs there? I haven't been to India with or without a dog, but I did once take my guide dog to the Philippines where my wife is from. This was actually my first trip there in 2009 and when we first met in person. I got all the paperwork done and I wish I had not taken him. The first week was OK, we stayed on a small island where we had rented a house together with another friend of mine from Germany who is also married to a Filipina. The second week when I was back in the Manila area I could not take my dog anywhere, not even into a Mcdonald's. We did have a hotel which allowed pets for a fee and while a guide dog here is not considered a pet and has rights, these do not apply in other countries. We usually only went out for an hour or two at a time because I could not bring him anywhere, I couldn't go into a mall with him (all malls in the Philippines have armed security guards at all entrances), I could not take him into any restaurants and so on and it was even a fight to find a taxi who would take him and me back to the airport when it was time to go home. On my way home I flew via Seoul, South Korea and I had a full 24 hour layover there. I arrived at 7 PM and my flight back to Vancouver was not until 7 PM the next day. I though I'd just go and get a hotel for the day, but no such luck. I had the help of a friendly person at the airport and we called probably 10 hotels and none of them would accept me with my guide dog. I ended up sleeping on a bench at the airport that night, I had asked one of the airline employees to show me around a bit to where the washrooms were and where I could take Mulligan outside and I can tell you it was a long 24 hours. I believe in a country like India you may find pretty good resistance towards a dog in certain areas or because of certain religious beliefs. I don't want to generalize, but here in Canada more often than not when I do have problems with my dog being accepted somewhere it is in a place wit staff from India or another middle Eastern country and often by people who follow Islam because in their faith a dog is considered to be an unclean animals which should not be touched. But, as I said, I am not wanting to single out anybody here, I have also twice had issues in a place which was owned by a German like myself and I certainly know Caucasian Canadians who really dislike dogs, but at least here we have laws which clearly state that I can take my dog anywhere whether it's a super market, a 5-Star restaurant or a hotel, on the bus, train or in the airplane. Regards, Sieghard -----Original Message----- From: viphone@googlegroups.com <viphone@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Dave Sent: Saturday, November 30, 2019 3:05 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Guide dog in United States-help me Please 🙏 If you don't reside in the UK. Then you won't qualify, to receive a guide dog. You could try amazon. They may have some left over from black friday, lol. Dave. -----Original Message----- From: terri...@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, November 30, 2019 9:42 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: Guide dog in United States-help me Please 🙏 Hello Karuna, You cannot just buy a guide dog to take home. In fact, you cannot just buy a guide dog period. I am going to guess that you are from India. You should try applying to one of the guide dog training schools in the UK and/or Australia. I have know idea if you would qualify for any of those schools though. Best, Terri Hedgpeth -----Original Message----- From: viphone@googlegroups.com <viphone@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of karuna Chopra Sent: Saturday, November 30, 2019 2:27 PM To: ViPhone <viphone@googlegroups.com> Subject: Guide dog in United States-help me Please 🙏 Sincere apologies, this mail is off-topic and not related to the iPhone. I am visiting the United States next week, I want to take back with me a trained guide dog for helping me move around. can anyone please suggest where I could buy one? Your help in this Will be greatly appreciateWill be greatly appreciated. You can email me directly at kar...@chopra.us Thank you very much! -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. 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Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/022801d5a7c7%24141aaa40%243c4ffec0%24%40gmail.com. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/5C85EA7D25C5478E8C85C7E9F8670E16%40DaveTOSH. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. 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