[nagdu] Where's your leash?

Thu Mar 12 14:22:07 UTC 2009

Lol, they know when they've been caught. Luckily, whenever we're eating, 
Lexia just curls up and pretends that she does not exist.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wayne Merritt" <wcmerritt at gmail.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 7:37 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Where's your leash?

If I can reply to my own post here, I've learned something with this
second dog that is a good motto to go by: never give your dog a reason
to misbehave around food. For instance, whenever I or someone else is
working in my apartment kitchen, my dog is on an extended tie down at
my living room couch. She can still see me or the person but she's out
of the way in her place. She also has enough lead to wander around so
she doesn't feel like she's "tied" to that spot. This prevents her
from grabbing something from the table or sneaking into the kitchen.
Or, you could use the method of a coworker of mine and fellow guide
dog handler. Whenever her or her husband's guide dogs slip into their
kitchen, she yells, "Get out of my kitchen!" And the dogs beat a hasty
retreat.

Wayne

On 3/11/09, Wayne Merritt <wcmerritt at gmail.com> wrote:
> After having instances of the leash coming unhooked because my foot
> was too close to the clasp, or having the leash slip out from under my
> foot, I now put my foot or leg through the leash whenever sitting with
> my dog where I need to keep track of them. This has worked great.
> Being a tall guy with long legs, the worry of the dog pulling me over
> doesn't really exist. I suppose it could happen if she got distracted
> enough, but knowing her, she'd probably turn around immediately to see
> what happened to me and wonder if she did it. A good sighted friend
> told me some time ago that she has copied my habit of putting the
> leash around my leg, with one of her purse straps. She can attest to
> this method as well. This leash method also allows you to get up and
> move around briefly if need be without worrying about the leash coming
> loose from your foot.
>
> Wayne
>
> On 3/10/09, Ann Chiappetta <dungarees at optonline.net> wrote:
>> 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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>>>
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>>
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>
>
> --
> My blog:
> http://wayneism.blogspot.com
> My websites:
> www.wayneism.com
> www.whitecaneday.org
>

-- 
My blog:
http://wayneism.blogspot.com
My websites:
www.wayneism.com
www.whitecaneday.org

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