[nagdu] Where's your leash?

[Allison Nastoff]

I hate to admit it, but I am guilty of not keeping good track of 
Gilbert on occasion.  My trainer told me to always have the leash 
under my leg, or foot, even when we are not working.  Sometimes, 
I fall into the "Gilbert's such a good boy.  He won't go 
anywhere," or the "my hearing is good, so I would know if he got 
away," trap, or I will shift in my chair and not realize that the 
leash is not under my leg anymore.
About a month after I got Gilbert, and my third day of college, 
class had just ended and I was packing my things up to leave.  
Everyone else had already left, including Gilbert! I found this 
out when a boy came back in and said shyly, "uh, your dog's in 
the hallway." Fortunately, someone found him, and brought him 
back.  In another incident, my vision teacher took me and a 
friend out to lunch.  At that particular restaurant, I thought 
the best place for Gilbert was a little corner up against the 
wall right by our table.  I was able to reach down and touch him, 
but I didn't have the leash under my leg.  You can probably guess 
the rest of the story.  I got caught up in conversation, and a 
while later realized, "Uhoh, I have not checked where Gilbert is 
in a while.  Sure enough, during our conversation, he sneaked out 
from his corner, and was laying on the other side of my feet.  
Needless to say, I felt like such a looser.
Trainers can advisse you to keep the leash under your leg at all 
times, but only after a couple of real-life experiences did I 
take this advice seriously.  I think it is cool that the dog 
trainers tried to simulate what could happen if you weren't 
vigilant.  I don't agree with the tears and humiliation, but the 
concept is a great idea for a first-time dog handler.
Allison and Gilbert

> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Jenine Stanley" <jeninems at wowway.com
>To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog 
Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org
>Date sent: Fri, 6 Mar 2009 19:03:31 -0500
>Subject: [nagdu] Where's your leash?

>OK, this is one of those stories old fart guide dog handlers tell 
about the
>bad old days.

>My first class, at Pilot and then again first class at GDF 
featured
>instructors who were vicious about you knowing where your dog 
was, and hence
>where your leash was.  Before we got the dogs, at Pilot anyway, 
we had to
>carry our leashes around with us and keep track of them.  There 
are a couple
>trainers at Pilot who can sneak a leash and/or dog away from you 
without a
>sound or touch.  It's scary.  I've also watched while one of them 
coaxed a
>fellow student's large female Dobe out from under his chair while 
he
>snoozed.  That dog  crept out without touching his legs and 
crawled along the
>floor.

>If you forgot your leash or if you were unlucky enough to have it 
sneaked
>away, you owed a nickel.  Fines went up as time went on.  There 
were also
>fines for missing dogs during that first class.  I think only one 
person had
>his dog spirited away.

>What this taught us was that you pay attention to where your dog 
and leash
>are at all times.  Now this did get a little out of control with 
some fairly
>humiliating exchanges and tears from one person which were 
totally
>unnecessary.

>At GDf it was a little tamer, no fines and no pushing it to the 
humiliation
>level, but you'd still better be aware of that leash and dog, 
lest they
>suddenly be gone.

>I've heard over the years of things like this rigid teaching of 
dog
>awareness going too far and becoming spiteful nasty ways for 
trainers at
>some schools to tease people.  That said, I'll put on my old fart 
hat and say
>I'm glad it was drilled into me when it was and I think a little 
more of
>that kind of dog awareness emphasis would not hurt people.

> Jenine Stanley
>jeninems at wowway.com


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