[nagdu] People problems on the bus

[Jeanette Beal]

Mardi,

I am beyond-words upset for you.  I don't know of a good solution at  
all that doesn't involve carrying mace (illegal in most states and  
just not a good idea) or becoming that raving jerk that people fear.   
Any advice I could give depends heavily on where you live (region,  
people, etc.) and the attitudes of the transport people.  Clearly the  
other passengers are jerks and ignorant in the ways of service dogs  
but where's the driver in all this?  Can you enlist the driver's help  
before you get on the bus to help get you situated and harnessed in w/ 
o human interaction? How about demanding the names of the people  
around you who are interfering?  At this point your safety and sanity  
are completely at risk and thus a lie (I'm going to report you to X  
for risking my & my dog's life) by getting their names and information  
isn't out of line, I think.

But really it comes down to how the hell are you coping?! Maybe the  
school could come out and help you re-work the routes you take and in  
doing so help you figure out how to handle the folks you interact  
with?  A well-placed trainer can answer the folks who hate your  
corrections.  Also since your dog's work is faltering it might not  
hurt to have the school out anyway.

Is it possible for you to schedule that?

Jeanette (and Drummer)
On Nov 24, 2009, at 7:49 PM, Mardi Hadfield wrote:

> Hi every one, I have been having a lot of problems with people on  
> the bus.
> So many people have petted Shaman the he just goes right up to  
> people to be
> petted. To day when I got on the bus,It was a short lift so the dog  
> goes up
> first and waits for me to come up on the lift. Any way I have him on  
> a long
> leash and the minute he gets on the bus, the hands reach out and pet
> him.With the long leash, I have little control other that the fact the
> Shaman is attatched to my hand.By the time I get up on the bus and  
> try to
> get into the wheelchair bay Shaman is making the rounds to every one  
> to be
> petted. No matter what I say to people, they just totally ignore me.  
> I had
> to ride backwards in the bay because I could not turn my chair around
> because the dog would not back up for me. I tried voice corrections  
> and then
> resorted to leash corrections.People were yelling at me that I was  
> being
> cruel to my dog.I am afraid I will run over Shaman's Foot again,  
> because he
> is not paying attention to me. This problem is just getting worse. I  
> hate to
> go out any more because people won't leave my dog alone, and  
> correcting him
> doesn't work and only gets criticism. Nala pretty much ignored  
> people that
> petted her and did her job. She never had the distraction problems  
> that
> Shaman seems to have. I have tried using a sign on the harness  
> handle but
> people ignored it. Some people pet my dog just to annoy me as they  
> are the
> same people that I have asked repeatedly to please not pet my dog.  
> Does any
> one have any ideas?    Mardi and Shaman and Nala,retired.
>
> -- 
> http://wolfsinger-lakota.blogspot.com/
> http://wolfsinger2-thegoldendragon.blogspot.com
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info  
> for nagdu:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/bealjk%40gmail.com