[nagdu] Do's and Don't's

[Garry and Joy Relton]

OH Tami,

I had a dog who licked my toes while I worked  as a telephone operator when
I was in undergrads. It was difficult not to laugh. I mark that up to be
affectionate, not bad. Just incorrectly exhibited on the job, perhaps. 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Tamara Smith-Kinney
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 1:36 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Do's and Don't's


Jenine,

Are you saying my inner rebellious snot is showing?  /grin/  Now you know
why Mitzi and I get along so well.

Seriously, your point is well made.  I'm an independent enough cuss to
appreciate any opportunity to "make my own rules."  Of course, there are
rules everywhere people gather because that is how we maintain order.  As a
renter, I have to abide by certain rules, there are rules for professional
conduct at the office, even at home there are certain unwritten rules to
maintain order and avoid friction.

As you say, programs train many dogs for many people, then match them
together after the dog is trained.  So they have to train the dogs in
general to be fitted with a prospective handler who is also a total dog
newbie.  They also have limited opportunity to fully size up the handler
with whom they match the dog.  By necessity, they take a cookie cutter
approach to both dogs and handlers so that they can achieve the greatest
possible success rate.

I think I need to find a better way of phrasing, though, when I discuss the
decisions I've made with my dog that vary from those made by "the programs."
I make the compare/contrast in my own mind because I studied everything I
could find on programs in America and elsewhere even before I made the final
decision to start training my pup with guide work in mind.  After all, the
programs turn out oodles and oodles of successful working guides and guide
teams on a regular basis.  One can only assume they know a thing or two.
/grin/

When I vary from some norm or other that the majority of programs follow, I
do think it through carefully and try to consider their reason for said rule
and whether my situation is different enough to warrant doing things "my
way."

Of course, one advantage of being an owner-trainer is that you know for whom
you are training the dog, and you come to know the dog very well as an
individual outside the training environment as well as within.  So you can
adapt your training and house rules accordingly.

The corollary disadvantage there is that you get all of the consequences if
you screw it up.  /smile/  And you need to take a good hard look at your
weaknesses as well as your strengths, then do the same for this dog you have
so much faith in, and train both of you to mitigate those weaknesses. With
us, it's those dratted "indoor manners."  If I'm shopping for something and
asking a lot of questions and comparing this or that and really getting into
the quest for just the right item, my white cane starts getting itself into
trouble.  So does my purse.  Either is likely to become lost, all on its
own, given the slightest opportunity.  So I need to be sure my guide dog
will mind its manners without constant vigilance on my part.  Mitzi finds
"indoor manners" to be an insult to her independence and destiny of
self-determination.  /grin/  So I have to be super strict there with both of
us and will probably have to keep working at it over the course of her
career.  Because part of the problem is me, I can only assume I will have to
do the same with any future dogs, whether I owner-train again or go to a
program.  Even if I get the most perfect guide dog ever produced, I will
have to constantly work on myself.  Sigh.

Mitzi and I actually shopped computers together without incident the other
day, and I was very pleased with her for needing almost no supervision. Then
her dad joined us, and I decided to let him hold her so I wasn't stringing
the leash across the aisle every time I took a step.  He knows the rules,
and she's happy to stay with him as long as I don't stray to far.  So there
I am, getting all excited and geeky over the latest generation of wonder
machine, when I hear an unfamiliar voice exclaim, "Oh!  That's cold on the
toes!"  And I knew instantly what had happened.  There was Mitzi, lying
patiently out of the way like that's what comes naturally to her, pretty as
you please.  Until someone comes up the perpendicular aisle wearing sandals,
toes exposed and just begging to be licked.  OMG!  I was so embarrassed!
Somehow Mitzi picks people who think these things are funny and cute, which
is a blessing and a curse.  There I am trying to get the point across that
she has just been bad and using the most effective form of negative
reinforcement for her -- public embarrassment!  While crowds gather to
chuckle and admire her and tell me it's fine, really, she's a good dog.
Believe it or not, she does value my opinion enough to phase out the
behavior despite all the attention it brings her, even though she backslides
easily because it's so rewarding to get all the coos and smiles.  So that's
something we both have to work on because etiquette is important and
breaches can cause trouble very easily.  Also, if we ever travel to less
dog-friendly climes, she won't be so cute.  I shudder to think!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jenine Stanley
Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2009 4:42 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Do's and Don't's

I'd like to address Tammy's point about the guide dog schools being so
strict and quoting a lot of rules at people. There's a reason we do that.
It's like high school. There were a lot of rules for different situations in
high school and though the teachers knew that some kids would just never
break the rules, understood them and why they were enforced, there were just
as many kids who would disregard the rules at every chance. 

I think most people who go to established guide dog schools, who are mature
adults and know how they want an animal to behave in their homes and in
public, listen to the lectures and admonishments and know that they are not
meant to view everyone as incapable. They are meant to catch the folks who
maybe don't have dog experience, having never owned a pet dog or in some
cases never even been around dogs much, or the people who think the rules
don't apply to them anyway. 

The point about children is well taken too. Some people allow their children
a lot more freedom, or don't curb the tendencies to misbehave and that's
fine in one's own home, but if you've ever had a brat in your house for a
time, you'll become the strictest parent ever in your own mind. <grin> 

Back to guide dogs and other service animals though. We have the rights we
do to work our dogs in public places because we have stated that the dogs
are well behaved, not disruptive and under good control. Just as some people
don't want dogs on furniture in their homes, some hotels don't want dogs on
beds in their establishments. Other hotels provide you with dog sheets to
put on the bed if your dog is going to sleep there. I often toss an old
sheet into my suitcase, or did when I had a dog who loved lying on the bed.
I wrote DOG SHEET all over it in permanent marker so the cleaning staff will
just leave it there. 

Given all of the things that can be on hotel sheets, blankets and
bedspreads, one would think a little dog fur shouldn't be a big deal.
There's more to it than that though. There are dog nails that can scratch
the spread. I was mortified one year when at a convention where they used
wood chips in the relief area. My dog, a big, long haired Golden, had
tracked in not only small bits of wood chips but other things from the
relief area. There he lay, on the bed. Yuck! That's when I started bringing
the dog sheet. <grin> 

I suppose guide dog work is kind of like driver's education class too in
that we tell you all the "correct" ways to do things and we all know that
once home, people will modify things to fit their own lifestyles. 

The sad calls come from people who knowingly tossed out the rules once home
but now have an uncontrollable dog on their hands. That's when some school
staff do get a bit paternalistic. <grin> 

Do some of us take our own notions of good conduct and rules beyond the
school level too seriously and stray into harsh criticism of others? Oh
sure. There are people who do that to other parents though. We all, or at
least most of us, do it to pet owners when we see some of the boneheaded
things they do and allow their dogs to do. 

As for the rules around our house with 2 dogs, I'm fine with beds but it has
to be at my invitation, not the dog's will. I will not abide jumping, on me
or other people. My husband's dog is really bad about this one too, not so
much jumping but getting totally out of control and fetching everything that
isn't tied down. I love that dog but gees. <grin> 

I also don't like my dogs to go crazy when seeing people they know. They can
get happy, wag and such but the totally out of control displays are not
allowed. This does translate in public into a dog who can usually stay calm
when someone comes up to us. 

Oh, and don't think that just because I work for a guide dog school, I do
everything by the book perfect. <grin> I break all kinds of rules myself,
none of which I can think of at the moment, but trust me, I do. <grin> 

Will you bring down the saintly name of guide dogs if you allow your dog on
a hotel bed? Of course not, but the next handler who comes in there gets to
hear all about the last guide dog and how terrible it was, even if the
infraction is minor. I don't subscribe to the principle that my actions
represent and thus affect every single person using a guide dog, but sadly
they often do whether I like it or not. People will compare us to each other
and frankly, if I put in the time to have my dog maintain good house and
working behavior, I really resent being compared to someone who has other
views and actions. 

Just my own thoughts though, nothing more.


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