[nagdu] Where's your leash?

Tue Mar 10 20:11:45 UTC 2009

Great story! We had only one escapee, Verona's littermate, Visa. During our 
daily brushing, Lynda dropped the leash and Visa   decided to get out her 
ya-yas  and zoom out of the grooming room. Oh, now that I remember, Visa 
also got away after our dog massage session, too. Her partner in crime was 
another yellow lab named Newton, who always got the girls going.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <lindagwizdak at peoplepc.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 6:30 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Where's your leash?


> Hey Ann,
> I had a similar thing happen to me when I was getting Landon at Seeing 
> Eye. I was in the upstairs lounge helping someone get a VCR working so we 
> could see a movie.  I had Landon lying on the floor next to the couch and 
> there wasn't anything to tie him to.  Well, while I was on the step stool 
> to reach the VCR, someone new came in the room and Landon was off and 
> running!
>
> There were some stuffed puppies on the other side of the room with the 
> stuff we could look at for sale. Landon ran over there and grabbed a 
> stuffed Golden retriever pup and ran around and around the area with that 
> toy in his mouth!  Meanwhile, one of the instructors happened to come by 
> and saw Landon racing around the upstairs lounge and hallways.   The 
> instructor cracked up laughing and caught Landon's trailing leash as he 
> raced by and got him for me.  We just all had a great laugh over that one! 
> Next time I was in that lounge, I sat in a place where I could tie him up. 
> I made alot of use of that weird tie-up device on the wall near the 
> refrigerator when I was making myself a cup of tea!
>
> So, this sort of stuff happens to all of us at one time or another 
> (grin!). Another thing that can happen is you accidently dropping your 
> leash while out and it's real cold out and you're all bundled up and have 
> heavy mittens on. I'm glad that many times the dog hasn't realized that 
> the leash has been dropped!  This would happen to me when I was living in 
> New England - and will happen again when I move back there.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Linda and Landon
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Ann Edie" <annedie at nycap.rr.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 1:42 AM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Where's your leash?
>
>
>> Hi, All,
>>
>> That story reminds me of when I was at TSE getting my first guide.  My 
>> roommate's dog, a tall German shepherd, slipped out of the room when 
>> someone opened the door, and he went running through the building, 
>> tearing up and down the hallways, just having a grand lark, until he was 
>> finally captured!
>>
>> My own dog, who was, by the way, a chocolate Lab, was very mellow and 
>> stayed close to me at all times.  Of course, I still made sure that I had 
>> his leash attached to some part of my body at all times, and that he was 
>> in contact with some part of my body also, usually with his head resting 
>> on my feet. He was so calm and well-behaved that we used to joke that he 
>> was actually a ten-year-old dog whose gray muzzle had been masked with 
>> brown shoe polish. We figured that he had been a drug squad dog, and that 
>> now he was in the witness protection program and was assuming a second 
>> identity as a guide dog.  He was a great dog, very mature for his 21 
>> months of age.
>>
>> Another incident that occurred during my class serves as a reminder of 
>> another famous trainerism.  One evening during a lecture, when all the 
>> students and dogs were gathered in one of the lounges, one of the dogs 
>> quietly got up and wandered across the room to go socialize with another 
>> dog.  When the handler realized that his dog was gone--I think the 
>> instructor had to inform him of this--he spluttered out the dog's name 
>> several times, with ever-increasing desparation in his voice, hoping that 
>> this would bring the dog back to him.
>>
>> The handler was dismayed when this did not produce any noticeable effect 
>> on his errant dog.  After a dramatic pause, during which I'm sure the 
>> handler saw his life pass before his eyes, the instructor said quietly, 
>> "You might try 'Come.'"  And sure enough, when the handler said the dog's 
>> name again followed by the magic word "Come", the dog went right back to 
>> him.
>>
>> This was an excellent demonstration to all of us of the usefulness of 
>> using those command words to let our dogs know what we wanted them to do. 
>> For the rest of that class, when anyone got flustered and forgot to 
>> correctly cue their dog, and wondered why they got no response, the 
>> phrase, "You might try 'Come,'" would immediately bring them back to 
>> earth.
>>
>> Best,
>> Ann
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Charlene Ota" <caota at hawaii.rr.com>
>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 10:45 PM
>> 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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>>
>>
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>
>
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