[nagdu] a question stemming from a hot debate

[Linda Gwizdak]

Hi Chasity,
I think the answer to this varies with each dog in question.  I personally 
let people interact with my dog - Landon is a certified Therapy Dog for two 
different programs as well as my guide. Also my friends and family do 
interact with him.

Some of the problems I have seen are:
1) a friend's guide dog did bond to her husband more than it bonded to her. 
The dog saw the owner as "the bad guy" and the husband as the "good guy". 
The husband took the dog for walks with the woman's retired guide.  Why this 
happened, I don't know - it just did.

2) another friend's guide became attached to my friend's daughter.  When the 
daughter came aroound, this dog went out of control - even in harness - and 
my friend couldn't break the dog of this.

3) I had a dog who would distract to people so much that I couldn't even let 
people interact with it at all - even out of harness.

So, I think the degree of interaction and your dog's personality should 
guide what you choose to do as far as interaction with your dog goes.

These incidences I outlined above are more the exception than the rule in 
all my years of having guide dogs or being around other people's guide dogs. 
But, I think that there is such thing as too much interaction by family and 
friends.  Our dogs are NOT pets and many family members and friends forget 
this fact and treat the dog EXACTLY like they do their own pets.  The 
friends and family don't correct the dog, WE do!  Just like kids who like 
the favorite grandma because she lets them do the stuff you don't allow them 
to do!!

Landon and I are about to fly to Vermont for a visit.  Take care, all.

Linda and Landon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chasity Jackson" <chasityvanda at charter.net>
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 3:08 PM
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
> _______________________________________________
> 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/linda.gwizdak%40cox.net
>