[blparent] leaving family to get a dog guide

[Erin Rumer]

Yes, our kids being in school or away at camp is nice for routine and
keeping them busy and distracted while we're gone getting our guides.  I too
have thought about how I'll wait should anything happen to my current guide
before my son is school age, but I'm torn to be honest because having a dog
in the home is so much a part of who we are as a family.  I'm sure we'd all
get used to it, but having grown-up with dogs in the home, I can hardly
think about being without one for an extended period of time.  I do
fantasize how hair free the house and car would be though and that part of
not having a dog around excites me.  Let's all pull our resources together
and start a new dog guide school for Giant Schnauzers! LOL

Erin

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Jo Elizabeth Pinto
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 8:06 PM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] leaving family to get a dog guide

My dog is ten years old now, and I don't know how long she'll work.  I've
decided I won't go for another guide at least till my daughter is in school.

If my current guide has to retire, I'll use my cane again for a time.  She
has a fairly easy life, though, so she may go on working for another year or
two.  I'm not sure I would work a new, young dog enough right now, and also,
I think it will be easier on my daughter if she has a school routine to lean
on instead of missing me all day the way she would right now.

Jo Elizabeth

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a
song."  Maya Angelou

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Jennifer Jackson" <jennifersjackson at att.net>
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 12:59 PM
To: "'Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [blparent] leaving family to get a dog guide

> Actually I have always thought that a couple of the bigger schools 
> should offer a program once a year where our kids could attend with 
> us. This would let us work out any travel issues with our children 
> while we have a trainer there. Obviously some kind of child care 
> arrangement would have to be made for part of the day so we can focus 
> on our dogs, but this just seems like a workable plan. Especially for 
> those people who live in a rural area and do not qualify for in home 
> training.
>
> All that said, I did go for a dog when my oldest was four. I had 
> planned to hire someone to watch him during the day and make my 
> husband juggle the rest of the day. As it turned out, my mother found 
> out about 6 weeks before I left that she was going to laid off right 
> before I would be gone and she came and stayed at our home with him.
>
> The child who complained regularly about having to walk to school 
> apparently complained the entire time I was gone about his grandmother 
> driving him to school. It was a little over half a mile one way to his 
> school. She always acted like I should appreciate the opportunity to 
> exercise when I complained about the walk in August. :) I did not ask 
> her why she was not appreciating that opportunity in October. I also 
> went to one of the two week training sessions. I think my son would 
> have had a much more difficult time if I had been gone longer, or if 
> he had not been able to stay in his usual routine.
>
>
> Jennifer
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Erin Rumer
> Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 7:49 PM
> To: NFB blind parent listserv
> Subject: [blparent] leaving family to get a dog guide
>
> Hello list,
>
>
>
> Thankfully, my current guide is only 4.5 years old and doing well, but I 
> got
> to thinking about when it does come time to get a new guide, what will 
> that
> mean for my family and particularly my son.  Assuming my guide now works a
> nice long life and retires around the age of 10, my son will then be 
> around
> 6 or 7.  I know that in-home training may be a possibility depending on 
> the
> circumstances, but have any of you gone through having to leave young
> children with family or friends while off getting a new guide and if so, 
> how
> did your kids fair?  Working at GDB for 3.5 years before my son came along
> gave me the opportunity to work with lots of folks coming through for a 
> new
> dog who have kids at home, but since I rarely got the chance to speak with
> the grads after they went home, I never really got the full picture of how
> the separation affected the kids, especially if the parent leaving was a
> stay-at-home mom or dad.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Erin
>
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