[nagdu] Refusing to Work

Wed May 27 18:29:01 UTC 2009

Angie,

/rotfl/  Our dogs do something like that, only when it comes to the harness,
they're the opposite.  Daisy thinks the harness is the coolest thing ever!
Some days I have trouble getting Mitzi in harness because Daisy will jump in
front of her and stick her head into it.  A couple of times I've put it on
her, and once I even fastened it and let her guide.  She was so thrilled!

If her dad isn't home, Daisy really doesn't want Mitzi to put on the harness
because that means Mitzi and me are going out for fun and adventure while
poor neglected Daisy has to stay home.  So sad!  /grin/  Once she actually
chased Mitzi away from me pretty aggressively, and I finally had to give her
a time out so that I could get Mitzi dressed for work and out the door.
Silly mutts.

Mitzi is a great flaunter of toys and bones when she gets tired of Daisy'
hogging all the toys and bones.  So she will get whatever Daisy wants
(generally, whatever Mitzi has) and go around the house flaunting it for all
she's worth while Daisy follows her around barking cheerfully.  Drives me
batty, but it seems to do something for them, so I let them do it about once
a day.

I'm glad Glaze is enjoying her retirement!  If she starts talking back to
you, though, do let us know so we can worry about your sanity!  /grin/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Angie Matney
Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2009 6:18 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Refusing to Work

Glaze was hesitant to go places in the months before she retired. This was
particularly noticeable at one summer internship. Once, when we were waiting
to cross a street, she just decided to lie down rright there on the
sidewalk. She got up when I told her to, and she never did that again, but
it was a message from her that she was pretty much ready to retire.

Some people may question my sanity at this point (grin), but I actually had
conversations with Glaze (OK, I did all the audible talking; see, I'm not
quite *that* far-gone...though I did have one client who swore Glaze could
talk...but I digress). Anyway,  had conversations with Glaze and told her
she wouldn't have to work much longer. Believe it or not, she really did
seem to improve after that. She retired the following January. The first
time she saw me put the harness on Yani, she was watching from the couch
(yes, OK, I let my dogs on my own furniture), and she very clearly did not
want to go. She watched me harness up Yani and seemed to be very happy with
the arrangement. She has continued to enjoy her retirement. But she still
comes to body-block me if she sees that I'm approaching stairs and she
thinks I don't know they're there. She has taught Yani to do this, too

I have to say, Glaze's reaction to retirement made me wonder what kind of
task master I was! LOL! For years, I had heard all these stories about
retired guides who just couldn't stay with their handlers because they were
so distraught whenever the person harnessed up the new guide. Like as not,
Glaze would grab a nylabone and wave it in front of Yani's face when I'd get
out the harness,. She'd then run off, chomping on the bone. I told this to
one of my non-dog-using friends. He said that Glaze was saying, "Ha ha! You
have to go out with the mean lady, and I get to stay at home all day!" LOL!

Angie

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Buddy Brannan
Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2009 7:18 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Refusing to Work

On May 24, 2009, at 6:55 PM, Julie J wrote:

> Yup.  I have.   It's not a sign of good things to come.

I'd agree with Julie on this one. Having said that, the question is  
fairly general. Do you mean that your dog refuses to work (i.e. you  
get the harness, he isn't interested and won't go at all), or he  
refuses to work in specific situations, specific areas, or under  
specific conditions?

It's not a good sign in either case. How can you assure you won't run  
into said specific conditions, for instance? Depending on what those  
conditions are, it might be possible for you to avoid working your dog  
in those situations. But then you had better watch for generalizing of  
the behavior anyway.

My first dog had a bladder infection. After about three weeks of it  
not going away, he started standing across the room from me and not  
coming when I got the harness, very out of character for him at the  
time. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he was  
telling me he was done. Miraculously, right after the retirement, his  
bladder infection went away. One thing about Karl was that he was  
always on, even when he was off. I mean, even out of harness, he was  
still watching and seemed to feel on duty and responsible. Constant  
vigilance like that undoubtedly takes its toll and causes its own  
special brand of stress, and I'm sure that that contributed to his  
somewhat shortened working career; he worked for six and a half years  
and retired roughly six more before his passing. (Chet doesn't suffer  
from hypervigilance; when the harness is off, I could fall down a well  
and, unlike Lassie, he probably wouldn't notice. In harness, however,  
he's super and loves his work.)
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 746-4127 or 888-75-BUDDY

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