[nagdu] Out of the way in public

[Angie Matney]

Hi Tracy,

In my TSE class, the lead instructor (and therefore, pretty much all the other instructors) insisted on the dogs going under chairs. This must be a thing that varies from class to class. I prefer the under-the-chair method, too, but some charis 
aren't designed to accommodate even a small dog because of a bar underneath. In these situations, I might ask if one of the chairs at the table could be moved so that the dog won't protrude into the aisle.

I think that in your situation, Darleen, it's possible that the restaurant staff person was probably just overzealous in enforcing a reg about unobstructed aisles. I had a flight attendant say something to me along those lines once. In that case, 
glaze's nose was just *barely* protruding past the edge of the seat. She was not lying in the aisle.

Best,

Angie with Yani and retired Glaze



On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:16:38 -0400 (EDT), Tracy Carcione wrote:

>Jeanine, I couldn't agree more!  It's not just at conventions that people
>let dogs sprawl out any old where.  It drives me buggy.  It's dangerous
>for the dog, and rude to other people.  Guess I'm getting old-farty, too.
>And I'm not sure the schools emphasize it as much anymore, either.  I
>remember my first class at GDB we got it hammered in to us, but in later
>classes I didn't hear much about it.  Though they might have figured we
>retrains already knew (not a valid assumption.)
>In my class at TSE, they did talk about it.  But the technique my
>instructor insisted on was putting the dog beside my chair, and I've
>always preferred the under the chair method myself.
>But at least they talked about it.
>Tracy

>> Darlene asked if anyone had ever heard of a fire martial rule about dogs
>> having to be out of the walkway in restaurants.
>>
>> Though I've never heard of this and though I realize some dogs are large
>> and
>> many table and booth setups aren't exactly dog friendly, I hate to be a
>> giant prude about this, but your dog shouldn't be in the walk way period.
>> If
>> you have to move a chair to give the dog space, do so. If you need to sit
>> in
>> a particular place because your dog is larger, do so. I know there are
>> places where dogs just can't fit under the table, but most times there are
>> ways to keep them out of the general walkway.
>>
>> It's dangerous not only for people walking, who are usually not looking
>> down, but for your dog, who could be tripped over, have hot food or liquid
>> spilled on it or be bothered by the many children I encounter more and
>> more
>> often, unsupervised in restaurants.
>>
>> Gee, I really do think I am becoming my mother here, but I don't recall
>> ever
>> being allowed to get up and wander around during a meal, at home or in
>> public. <grin>
>>
>> I know that at many guide dog schools, Southeastern included, they do make
>> a
>> big deal about the dogs being out of the way and several schools have a
>> variety of seating options in some of their lounges to practice this
>> chore.
>>
>> I'm not yelling at anyone here or saying that the fire martial stuff is
>> correct. It's probably not, but my guess too is that someone has tripped
>> over a dog there and hence the warning.
>>
>> Sadly, I've been to my share of conventions where dogs are just sort of
>> everywhere. This is due in part to hotels choosing to make tables at
>> banquets and luncheons rounds of 10 with chairs packed together so you
>> can't
>> really make room. <grin> Not good, but even when there are a lot of dogs,
>> most hotel style chairs can accommodate a dog under them.
>>
>> Again, showing my "Old Fartedness", does it seem as if there is less
>> stress
>> being put on dog awareness than in past guide dog training? I realize it's
>> not politically correct, or exactly helpful, to yell at people, play
>> tricks
>> on them, etc. during class, but I recall during my first several classes
>> at
>> 2 different schools, having the fear of Instructor put into me over where
>> my
>> dog was and what it was doing. Sometimes, the dog just disappeared. I have
>> to say proudly that this never happened to me, but certainly I got my
>> share
>> of public and private admonishments to pay attention to my dog's
>> whereabouts. This extended to how the dog was positioned under tables.
>>
>> When I first went to GDF back in 1990, we had a dining room setup that
>> looked very much like one of those little country restaurants. There were
>> tables that sat 4 people plus a seat on either end. The tables had the
>> long
>> braces at the bottom in an X shape so they crossed the space under
>> everyone's feet. The chairs were those little wooden country seats with
>> the
>> bar underneath. This made getting a dog under the table extremely
>> interesting. We had a system where people sitting diagonally across from
>> each other brought their dogs to meals. As you can imagine, by about the
>> third week, no one could remember whose turn it was to bring his/her dog
>> to
>> lunch and things could get ugly. <grin>
>>
>> One thing it did teach though was how to get a dog under a table like that
>> and keep it there while another, equally uncomfortable dog was doing the
>> same across the way.
>>
>> Now we have round tables that seat 4 regularly but can seat up to 6.
>> Chairs
>> allow for dogs to go under them easily, if not readily, and all dogs come
>> to
>> each meal.
>>
>> I've had 50 pound dogs and 80 pound dogs and both were able to fit
>> reasonably under things. Some did so with a lot more grace than others.
>> <grin> My current guy is big. He's tall and bulky but he can curl up under
>> a
>> chair fairly neatly.
>>
>> Even when going out with both of our dogs, my husband and I try extremely
>> hard to keep them out of the aisles and walkways. They are both around 75
>> pounds but his Golden is a bit lankier.
>>
>> Sorry for the rant here but Darlene's question sparked a topic I've been
>> fussing over for ages.
>>
>>  Jenine Stanley
>> Sorry, I don't have the authority to save the world today.
>> jeninems at wowway.com
>>
>>
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