[nagdu] Woman with guide dog says civil rights were violated

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Well put!  The non-traditional breed thing can result in unexpected
converational turns as well as the occasional tense discussion about whether
or not a poodle *is* a guide dog or not.  Especially when people see actual
Guide Dobs from Guide Dobs for the Blind everywhere in teir green vests
and/or GDB harnesses.  I haven't had huge problems, and hardly even notice
the conversations, even those that turn into discussions, but a poodle sans
green vest does not a guide dog make!  /smile/

Of course, GDB has also trained people about guide dogs and the etiquette
the general public should have towards guide dogs, so I have it easy.
/smile/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jenine Stanley
Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 5:57 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Woman with guide dog says civil rights were violated

I don't know what breed of dog this is but sometimes people with unusual
breeds, such as boxers, Dobies, Poodles or Poodle crosses, or other mixes or
crosses, get a lot more access challenges. 

Heck, I got a serious access challenge years ago from a Wal-Mart greeter. He
was convinced that only German Shepherds could be guide dogs and since I had
a large Golden, it couldn't possibly be a guide dog. The irony was that I'd
been in the store for over an hour and was leaving when he made his
challenge. Granted, this was small town Eastern Ohio and this man was in his
80's, but the manager handled it very well, assuring us that it would never
happen again, and it didn't. 

I wonder too if sometimes we are too quick to anger over what are common
misunderstandings, like not looking blind enough, and then ratchet up the
confrontation. I'm not saying that's what happened in this situation, but
the Leader Dog vs. Seeing eye dog reference, which I'm so glad the reporter
explained, might have started something that could have been prevented. In
the article they did say that she's reported access difficulties with other
businesses in the area. 

To me this speaks of a couple different issues. Maybe people really are
uneducated and do the knee-jerk thing of refusing entry. Maybe too the
problem doesn't lie with the businesses. Could be either way. 


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