[nagdu] new guides

Wed Jun 3 10:31:54 UTC 2009

Good Morning Tami,

The day before yesterday Marion received a call from GDF regarding his 
application.  He was told that I will have my dog and training completed by 
the time I begin Grad school (August 20th).  Not quite sure about Marion.

This will be the first time we have ever been to convention with no dogs at 
all!!  I told him last night that it will be strange no packing dog food.

Merry
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tamara Smith-Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 3:46 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] furniture

> Merry,
>
> I had forgotten that you lost Syd.  I'm glad you were able to hold him as 
> he
> went from you.  And I know what you mean about the seat.  When my last
> kitty, Musket, was put down, the vets wrapped her in the towel we brought
> her in.  We didn't have the option of an at-home euthanization because her
> condition turned so quickly and she was suffering.  It was an old ratty
> towel and quite nasty from carrying her in it when she was so ill.  I wish 
> I
> had kept it and washed it, though, because I seem to have lost some Musket
> essence there.  I still have furniture from when she was with me and will
> sometimes sit in it an tell Mitzi about her and how her scent is deep in
> that furniture.  She was a great cat, and I still miss her.
>
> Any word on the new guide(s)?
>
> Tami Smith-Kinney
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Merry Schoch
> Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 2:34 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] furniture
>
> Hi Tami,
>
> I believe we will get the new guides before the new furniture.  The
> livingroom will probably be the last room that gets worked on since it's 
> the
>
> only room that needs new furniture.  So, hopefully the new guides will 
> have
> good furniture etiquette.  I do, however, miss waking up in the morning
> without Syd curled up next to me, but have decided I  sleep better without 
> a
>
> dog in bed with me.   Syd and I were on the loveseat with most of him 
> laying
>
> on me when he was euthanized, and although he had eaten most of the 
> leather
> off of one of the cushions, it will be hard getting rid of that seat.  I
> know it sounds kinda morbid, but it holds that memory of the last time he
> was in my lap.  May be in time it won't be as significant to me.
>
> Merry
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tamara Smith-Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 1:42 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Do's and Don't's
>
>
>> Merry,
>>
>> Yeah, that new furniture really does cramp one's style.  All those things
>> you don't notice on your old, crappy, single-life furniture are suddenly
>> potential disasters of the highest magnitude.
>>
>> When we bought our beloved new sectional, my roomie and I soberly
>> discussed
>> the changes that would have to be made with the dogs, that they would 
>> just
>> have to learn to follow the new rules from the get-go....
>>
>> So that didn't happen.  /grin/  It's getting the people to set the new
>> rules
>> and follow them that you have to worry about.  The new furniture arrived,
>> we
>> sat down on it and promptly encouraged the dogs to come up with us for
>> snuggles.  I think we're hopeless.
>>
>> We'll see what happens after we move...  We have a list of new rules and
>> have both declared solemnly that they must be and will be.  Anyone want 
>> to
>> take bets on how long that will last?  What's really funny is that I'm 
>> not
>> the worst of the two us.  Now that's really scary!
>>
>> Tami Smith-Kinney
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>> Behalf
>> Of Merry Schoch
>> Sent: Sunday, May 31, 2009 4:20 AM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Do's and Don't's
>>
>> Hi Jenine,
>>
>> With my first guide, Vizsla, was allowed on the bed and furniture
>> immediately.  Actually, he slept on my bed while in training, but it was
>> "top secret".  My second dog was allowed the same except we trained at
>> home
>> so no big deal.  When Marion and I were married, 2nd dog not with me
>> anymore, the Vizsla slept on a mattress next to my side of the bed.
>> However, he would sneak up in the middle of the night.
>>
>> Both dogs were a hoot when at hotels.  If there were two beds, they would
>> get so excited to be there and jump back and forth from each bed.  I 
>> never
>> had an issue with either sleeping on the beds (both short hair).  With 
>> all
>> that said, Marion and I have discussed that when we get our new guides
>> things will be different.  No dogs on the furniture or the beds.  We are
>> going to get new furniture and we just don't want the dogs sleeping with
>> us.
>>
>> When I was single and the furniture was not that great, it wasn't a big
>> deal.  Things change, so now we will change.
>>
>> I will say, being that my daughter was a puppyraiser and even though Syd
>> was
>>
>> allowed on the furniture, the pup was not.  I have seen puppyraisers let
>> their pups on the furniture and that frustrates me because if the handler
>> does not want it than they will have problems with the dog.
>>
>> I am glad when I attend school for my first guide that I was told these
>> rules as well as some scenarios to go with them.  They made sense to me.
>> I
>> still do not allow anyone to pet my dog while in harness.  Marion has no
>> problem letting someone pet his dog since she could care less whether
>> someone is touching her.  I am sure with a new dog, Marion will not allow
>> any petting until he has determined his dogs personality
>>
>> I think the best thing to do is to determine what works best for handler
>> and
>>
>> dog.  As long as the dog works and behaves well.  As a puppyraiser, I 
>> know
>> the hard work that goes into conditioning the little ones and to see a
>> well
>> behaved dog turned into one that is embarrassing is heartbreaking to the
>> raiser.
>>
>> JMHO,
>> Merry
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Jenine Stanley" <jeninems at wowway.com>
>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2009 7:42 PM
>> 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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>>
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>>
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