[nagdu] Things I wanted to discuss, but just didn't have time to

Sun Mar 8 21:32:55 UTC 2009

I did that last week.  My friend uses a cane so doesn't walk very fast.  she 
was giving me directions but my dog was listening to her  before I could 
give him the command!
Julie Phillipson
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ann Chiappetta" <dungarees at optonline.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 12:49 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Things I wanted to discuss, but just didn't have time 
to


> Hi;
> I'm a new handler and find it hard to walk and follow someone unless they
> are faster than me and my dog. If, for instance, the person is slow, 
> Verona
> always tries to hup left around them. If I steady her, she paces to and 
> fro
> as if to say, let's go!
>
> So, when I'm with a slow walker who may need to provide directions, I will
> go ahead anyway &  stop and ask the other person who is now behind us  if 
> I
> am doing okay.
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Nicole B. Torcolini" <ntorcolini at wavecable.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 11:43 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Things I wanted to discuss, but just didn't have time
> to
>
>
>> It took Lexia a little while to get the hang of following people.  She 
>> did
>> not always stop when they did, so, although zigzagging was not a problem,
>> we
>> had to do walk then stop exercises with her to teach her not to bump into
>> the person whom she was following.  On another note, when the person whom
>> your dog is following is walking on the right side, have any of your dogs
>> tried to go around the person because they try to track left?  Is the
>> track
>> left training a standard for all of the schools?
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Merry Schoch" <merrys at verizon.net>
>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 3:20 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Things I wanted to discuss, but just didn't have 
>> time
>> to
>>
>>
>> Hi Mardi,
>>
>> I loved to use "follow" especially when travelling in a crowded mall.
>> With
>> my first guide, my daughter was 12 years old.  We would head to the mall
>> and
>> I would have her zig zag and then make suddens stops.  We did this when
>> the
>> mall was not crowded, and also did it in a tasteful manner.  It was fun
>> time
>> for the three of us.  Also with this dog I would tell him to sit if 
>> anyone
>> came to pet him, depending on where I was, if they continued I would
>> either
>> put him in a down or while he was in the sit I would remove their hand 
>> and
>> place mine on the top of his head.  If I had to put him in a sit or down,
>> I
>> would always say "No, sit/down".  Usually, the person would apologize
>> because they did like seeing the dog get corrected or told no; however,
>> there are always those who "push the envelope".  Anyway, I was doing a
>> walkathon one year for the guide dog school and I was in the hotel's
>> lobby.
>> One of the staff people stated to me that someone was approaching my dog
>> and
>> he backed away from them.  He was quite amazed to see the dog do this.  I
>> beamed with pride.
>>
>> Marion's dog is like your Nala, she just turns her head and could care
>> less
>> if anyone is petting her.  Due to this, he is more apt to let someone in
>> public giver her a pat on the head; however, whenever I had a guide with
>> me
>> he would not do this because I don't let my dog get attention while
>> working.
>> Marion has this woman at his church who "pushes the envelope".  In the
>> past,
>> I have taken my old retired dog to his church (in harness) to get him out
>> and let him work a bit.  Well, Marion would let her pet Louiza and I 
>> would
>> not let her pet Sydney.  Last week he was at church, he had the harness
>> off
>> the dog, and the woman came up and unleashed his dog.  He asked her why
>> she
>> did that, and she said she wanted to pet her.  I would have lost my mind
>> if
>> she had done that, but Marion stayed calm and cool.  Hopefully, before 
>> the
>> next national convention I'll have another guide and Marion will have to
>> be
>> on his best behavior when we work our dogs together (smile)!
>>
>> Merry
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Mardi Hadfield" <wolfsinger.lakota at gmail.com>
>> To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 3:33 AM
>> Subject: [nagdu] Things I wanted to discuss, but just didn't have time to
>>
>>
>>> Hi every one,  I have been so busy these past few days, that I have not
>>> had
>>> time to read or post. Now that I have caught up on the reading, I am
>>> going
>>> to attempt to catch up on my posting.  I have always trained my dogs to
>>> find
>>> and to follow. I have found it to be very helpful.I also have noticed
>>> that
>>> when people pet Nala when she is in harness, She will turn her head away
>>> from them,as if she were tying to tell them to leave her alone,as she is
>>> working. People always want to pet the cute snow dog. I wonder if people
>>> will be so quick to pet Shaman, or will they refrain from petting him 
>>> him
>>> because he is a large shepherd,who looks like he could remove a hand or
>>> two.
>>> It will be interesting to see if there is any difference. When I go into
>>> a
>>> restaurant, I try to sit away from other people so no one will bother my
>>> dog. There have been times when this was not possible and I ended up
>>> sitting
>>> next to kids who felt it their mission was to feed my dog french fries,
>>> which thankfully, she refuses,as I have taught her never to take food
>>> from
>>> any one but me.  I don't know which school it is but they have the rare
>>> black and tan labs. I think they are very beautiful, and would not mind
>>> having one of them. I like the black labs ,more than the yellow or
>>> chocolate
>>> ones. I don't think they are different in temperament, it's just my 
>>> color
>>> preference. However if I needed a dog and they were the only ones
>>> available,
>>> I would be happy to have any dog that could do the job.I am wondering 
>>> why
>>> non of the schools have tried the curly coated retrievers. They have a
>>> curly
>>> coat that never needs trimming and they are retrievers. I would think
>>> they
>>> would have a similar temperament as a lab.I also wonder why the school
>>> that
>>> train for wheelchair users haven't tried some huskies. I know for a fact
>>> that they are very trainable and always want to work and don't know what
>>> the
>>> word tired means. They do mellow out  with age, but still have enough
>>> energy
>>> to work all day and then some,with out being hyper. They always have 
>>> that
>>> happy go lucky attitude and are never grouchy. They have a great sense 
>>> of
>>> self preservation, which makes them good in traffic. They are very
>>> capable
>>> of thinking for them selves, and while I realize that they are not for
>>> every
>>> one, they do make excellent guides. I would have preferred to get 
>>> another
>>> husky, but I just could not find one the right age. They were either too
>>> young  or too old.The two husky crosses, I tried just did not work out. 
>>> I
>>> have reservations that Shaman will have the same energy level that my
>>> huskies have , and wonder if he will be able to keep up with me. I guess
>>> time will tell.   Have a great day,  Mardi and Nala, semi-retired and
>>> Shaman, gdit
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
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>
>
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