Re: OT: Re: Opting not to go bilateral

[Guest guest]

,

Your story about Jayden's name brought me to tears! What a perfect name for

her! (I love that name by the way!)

I'm so glad you were able to find a trainer who could dually train Jayden

for guide work and alerting.

I live in Wisconsin, so if you know of any trainers in or around the

midwest, please let me know. Thanks! I did talk to a representative from a

school in my area who trains hearing dogs. She offered to train my previous

guide dog in my home (this was back in 1995), but I refused because I wasn't

sure if the added responsibility of alerting would negatively impact her

guide work. I've since been told by several dog handlers who trained their

own service dogs for multiple duties that this wouldn't be a problem, so

this is something I'm giving serious thought to the next time I receive a

guide dog.

By the way, I also don't understand why a guide dog school wouldn't accept

you if you have RP. Criteria for admission state that a student must be

legally blind, but if you're close to that (such as in the 20/70-20/100

range), I don't see why they wouldn't accept you. In any case, I'm glad you

found someone who took on the challenge of training a dog for you!

I hope you'll share more of your experiences on the list about Jayden! Give

her a hug from Tigger and I!

Left ear - Nucleus 24 Contour Advance with Freedom BTE

Implanted: 12/22/04 Activated: 1/18/05

Right ear - Nucleus Freedom

Implanted: 2/1/06 Activated: 3/1/06

Deafblind/Postlingual