[nagdu] a question stemming from a hot debate

[Allison Nastoff]

Hi Chasity,
I totally agree with you.  As long as Gilbert is not working, I 
see nothing wrong with letting family and friends interact with 
him.  After all, when he is not working, he is a pet, so why not 
let people play with him? I am a little more strict with Gilbert 
than I would be with a pet of course; for example, I don't let 
people feed him or take him outside off leash.  (My brother's 
insisting that table scraps wouldn't hurt Gilbert was resolved by 
the way.) But just petting him or playing in the house is no 
problem.
Allison and Gilbert

> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Chasity Jackson" <chasityvanda at charter.net
>To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org
>Date sent: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:08:16 -0500
>Subject: [nagdu] a question stemming from a hot debate

>Hey all,

>After having a discussion with a friend this afternoon, who is a 
first time guide dog owner, I wanted to ask this question, just 
for curiosity's sake.

>How many of you believe that if you let your dog bond with family 
and friends, that means that you aren't a good guide dog user and 
owner? This person told me that he does not let his family 
interact with his dog for more than a few seconds.  Now I totally 
respect everyone's right to be different, and I respect his right 
to do that, but then he went so far as to say that I don't act 
like I know how to use a guide dog because I said that I see 
nothing wrong with family and friends playing with your dog when 
they're at your house.  Now, I'm not talking about when the dog 
is in harness, or if you're out running errands, etc.  Of course, 
I am a stickler for that, when your dog is working, he or she is 
working and should not be bothered.  I am talking about if your 
buddy comes over on Sunday afternoon to watch football, and wants 
to sit on the floor and bond with your dog, or maybe throw a 
ball, etc.  I personally don't see anything wrong with that after 
the bonding stages are over, and as long as your dog isn't a 
brand new dog that is still trying to bond with you.  Not that 
anyone's responses will change my mind, but I was just curious to 
see how many people agree with me and how many agree with him.  
Just a topic of discussion here on the list.

>Chasity
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