[nagdu] More information on Taco Bell incident

[Julie J]

Buddy,

You are absolutely right.  It's interesting that all the owner trainers on 
this list all have "unusual" breeds.  Tami has a poodle, Rox'e a doberman, 
Marti a Belgan shepherd and I have a Boxer mix.

I think the hardest thing about owner training is finding the right dog.  I 
had a list of absolute musts when I was looking and another list of things 
that would be nice.  I put only the absolute must haves on the first.  There 
are few enough dogs to choose from, limiting the breed doesn't make sense 
for me.  It took me a year and a half to get Monty.  I can't imagine if I 
had set out with the intention of only looking at one breed.  I think I'd 
still be looking.

Julie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Buddy Brannan" <buddy at brannan.name>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 06, 2009 8:45 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] More information on Taco Bell incident


>
> On Jun 6, 2009, at 6:09 PM, Allison Nastoff wrote:
>
>> I do wonder though if guide dog schools should stick with  traditional 
>> breeds like Labs and German Shepherds.  Maybe this would  make it easier 
>> for the public to trust that a dog is, in fact a  guide dog. 
>> Theoretically, someone could get a harness on the black  market, and put 
>> it on their pet poodle and say he's a guide dog.   The same could be true 
>> for someone's pet Lab of course, but I just  think that sticking to a few 
>> standard breeds might make the guide  dog access issue less confusing for 
>> the public.  Just my opinion.
>
> I couldn't disagree with you more. For one thing, if we stuck to 
> "traditional breeds" and started doing so at the beginning, we'd all  have 
> shepherds. But more to the point, well, actually, there are  several 
> points.
>
> 1) There are many kinds of service dogs, not just guide dogs, and if  they 
> are task trained (etc. etc. etc.), they have the protection of  Federal 
> law. Many of these dogs are non-traditional breeds, even mixed  breeds. 
> Would you deny access to handlers of such dogs only to make  the issue 
> easier for the public?
>
> 2. I've said it before and I'll say it again. There is absolutely no 
> magic in guide dog equipment. Moreover, there is no law that  stipulates 
> what constitutes proper working equipment for guide or, for  that matter, 
> any other service animal. Someone could as easily take  his pet dog 
> somewhere and as easily claim it to be a service dog. This  is a sticky 
> issue, but the issue of working equipment just clouds the  issue further. 
> A harness does not a guide dog make, nor does it prove  legitimacy. This 
> issue of "harnesses falling into the wrong hands" has  always, frankly, 
> puzzled me. A harness proves nothing, nor does it  give one service animal 
> more legal weight than another who might  require different equipment. 
> Whether or what equipment a dog wears  does not define it as a service 
> animal, and propagating statements to  the contrary can't help the larger 
> community of service dog owners,  especially those who don't require 
> specific equipment. (Besides,  anyone with the requisite skill set can 
> make a harness, this really  isn't any sort of arcane knowledge jealously 
> guarded by the guide dog  schools.)
>
> 3. None of this about sticking to "traditional breeds" takes into  account 
> the needs or desires of owner trainers. Julie? Rox'e? Marti?  Let's say 
> one of you found a dog of just the right temperament but it  wasn't a 
> "traditional breed". Would you not find it a supreme waste  that you 
> couldn't use such a dog on the basis of its not conforming to  someone 
> else's idea of the "right" kind of dog?
>
> Don't forget that Jenine was just talking about some access trouble  she 
> had when she brought her (very traditional) Golden into a store  and 
> someone thought this couldn't possibly be a guide dog, because it  wasn't 
> a GSD. Would you like to so narrowly define what constitutes a  working 
> service animal? OK, consider this. Right now, the most common  breed of 
> service dog (especially guide dog) is the Labrador Retriever.  Several 
> decades ago, it was the German Shepherd dog. In several more  decades, 
> let's suppose this changes again. If we rigidly define that  only labs, 
> Goldens, GSD's, and lab/golden crosses are legitimate  service dogs and in 
> 30 years the labradoodle becomes dominant, how  would this affect such a 
> law? What do we do about people who,for one  reason or another, need to 
> use a boxer, or a poodle, or a Doberman?  Shall we deny them use of a 
> guide dog for which they may in all other  respects be suitable?
>
> Buddy
>
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