[nagdu] Where's your leash?

[Garry and Joy Relton]

I just thought of something. How many of you had Roger Taylor for a trainer?
When I got my first dog, he was my trainer. In our class was a 120 pound
shepherd and a 42 pound shepherd. During the first week when we hung our
harnesses on the back of the chair in the dining room because the harnesses
were still so stiff, Roger switched the two harnesses stelthfully. When we
got up to harness our dogs and leave the dining room, you should have heard
the comments from the two users. One said "what the heck, there's something
wrong with this harness! The other, quietly said "I'm not sure how it
happened, but I think something's been switched." Those of you who were
privileged enough to have Roger as your trainer can probably tell other
stories as well.

Roger asked a policeman friend to come up to me on the street and ask me if
I had a license to operate that dog. Me, being a naive little 19 year-old
stuttered and I said," I didn't know". Then, the man started to chuckle and
I asked "Are you a friend of Roger Taylor?"

Joy with Belle
-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Charlene Ota
Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 10:45 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Where's your leash?


Gee, when I was at Seeing Eye, my fourth dog, mind you, a shepherd didn't
need any coaxing, he snuck away from me I think twice and did it so
stealthily I never knew, and went back to his trainer, good old Lucas Frank.
It sure taught me in a hurry to keep track of my dog!
 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jenine Stanley
Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 2:04 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
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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