[nagdu] new guides

Tue Jun 9 02:40:01 UTC 2009

I was amazed how much space I gained the first trip I took without my
first guide, like half the duffle/suitcase at least. Leaves more room
for convention suvineers and materials.

Congrads and have fun,
Wayne

On 6/3/09, Tamara Smith-Kinney <tamara.8024 at comcast.net> wrote:
> Congratulations!
>
> Your suitcases will seem lighter than air.  /smile/
>
> Tami Smith-Kinney
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Merry Schoch
> Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 3:32 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: [nagdu] new guides
>
> 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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