[nagdu] Missing guide dog found struck by car

Wed May 27 18:53:58 UTC 2009

I have to say that my almost perfect golden lab has escaped twice on me.
Both times someone left the gate or door open for quite a while and I didn't
realize it. Apparently she got bored. Once she went two doors down and
walked into the neighbors yard to play with their dog. The neighbor told my
husband that she was there. My kids occasionally forget to close the gate.
Anyway Belle didn't cross any streets to get there. My neighbor informed me
that she did behave like a perfect lady. Good to hear once my heart got out
of my throat. The  other time, the workers had left a door opened. I
received a knock on my front door asking me if I was missing a dog to which
I said "I hope not". Well, he told me that my yellow lab had come to their
house and had been playing nicely with his dog. I was quite surprised and
relieved that she was all right. Both instances turned out ok but, it might
not have. There are no absolutes in life except, as my dad would say, paying
taxes and dying. I do everything I can to prevent such things from happening
but, they still do on occasion. The best that any of us can do is take
precautions. 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Tamara Smith-Kinney
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 2:41 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Missing guide dog found struck by car

Yeah, I had some slips like that when Mitzi was young and flighty.  OMG! She
always came back safely, but I would be just sick wondering what would
happen to her.  It's one thing to do intentional off-leash work, but quite
another when the dog makes an unauthorized escape and a place you absolutely
don't want her running loose!

So now I wrap my leash several times around my wrist to make absolutely
sure, especially if there's a lot going on and the feeling in my hands is
iffy.  And I try to remember that if I'm changing something, like
transferring her leash attachment from her collar to her Halti that I keep
some sort of reliable hold at the same time, sort of like with a horse.
She's most likely to stand and let me do my thing now that she's got
maturity and sense and the like, but I've made enough mistakes to be more
wary where there are lots of cars or lots of excitement.

We went hiking/exploring with a friend on Memorial Day, and on our way to
hiking trails walked up a steep hill to visit a local stable and look at the
horses.  I didn't think about the certain presence of tempting kitties,
bunnies, etc. around a barnyard.  D'oh!  And peacocks certainly never
crossed my mind!  The guy has about thirty of the things wandering about the
place, dragging those long colorful tails after them.  I finally decided the
just tie the leash nice and tight around my wrist to be on the safe side.
Peacocks are apparently now Mitzi's most chaseable creature.  /lol/  I
wasn't worried she would hurt the peacocks, since she likes the thrill of
the chase and then wants the chasee to turn around and chase her back.  But
the image of peacocks zooming around the horses making whatever noise a
chased peacock makes with an ecstatic poodle flying around after them was
just too much chaos to even consider!  Especially since the poodle has no
clue about barnyard dangers like flying horse hooves or aggressively
defensive peacocks!  /lol/  Now I can entertain myself with the cartoon
version of the possible fracas, but at the time I had some real worries!

She actually managed to do some responsible guiding about the place,
peacocks or no, so I was proud of her for that.  She really is becoming a
grown up, I guess.  But I had to do a lot of planting my feet and waiting
for her to go through a lot of rodeo bronc gyrations whenever a peacock
passed by.  /grin/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Wayne Merritt
Sent: Monday, May 25, 2009 9:33 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Missing guide dog found struck by car

Something else to keep in mind is how much of a hold you have on the leash.
Once, when out relieving my first guide, I was changing the SeeignEye's
leash from a long to a short one, and the dog saw something and bolted. I
first stood there not believing that it happened, attempted to call him, and
then went back in the house and called one of my relatives to come and help
me look. About 15 minutes later, the doorbell rang and a neighbor was
standing there with my dog, asking if it was mine. I was never so relieved
to see that dog ever in my life than at that moment. So when you're taking
your dogs out for whatever reason, it's good to maintain a good hold on the
leash. Or,  ikf you're going to stand still, then wrap it around an arm or
leg. Anything's possible, but if it's around a leg, then there's less of a
chance of the dog bolting before you know about it.

Wayne

On 5/24/09, Julie J <julielj at windstream.net> wrote:
> I find it interesting that guide dogs in other countries are allowed 
> to
run
> off leash.  the programs there train a totally reliable recall with a 
> whistle.
>
> Monty has an amazing recall.  But I really can't claim credit, he came 
> to
me
> with it.  I've just practiced it.  He has gotten out three times, I 
> think. I just call him and he comes immediately to me at top speed.
>
> Julie
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "The Pawpower Pack" <pawpower4me at gmail.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2009 3:19 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Missing guide dog found struck by car
>
>
>> Tami,
>>
>> I agree with you about lots of off leash time for training purposes.   I
>> think, sometimes, especially with assistance dogs that off leash  
>> time is such a rare treat that when a dog gets loose he is too busy  
>> experiencing all those fun things like sniffing and running free and  
>> doing those things is not as rewarding as returning to the handler.
>>
>> I work on recall from day one with my dogs, and make the recall a 
>> very high-value exercise.
>>
>> Also with my border collie, I did some herding and I needed to be 
>> able
to
>>
>> call her off of the sheep to return to me; training her to do this 
>> ensured she has a fantastic recall.
>>
>> I do think it's important to keep dogs secured etc. but accidents do 
>> happen, sadly.
>>
>>
>> Rox and the Kitchen Bitches
>>
>> Bristol (retired), Mill'E SD. and Laveau Guide Dog, CGC. "Life breaks 
>> us all, but afterwards, many of us are strongest at the broken 
>> places." -- Ernest Hemingway  pawpower4me at gmail.com
>>
>> MSN: Brisomania at Hotmail.com
>> AIM: Brissysgirl Yahoo: lillebriss 
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-- 
My blog:
http://wayneism.blogspot.com
My websites:
www.wayneism.com
www.whitecaneday.org

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