[nagdu] responsible handling and ownership

[Jenine Stanley]

OK, let me take off my guide dog school staff hat before asking these
questions of all of you. 

I too believe ownership is a very important principle and did encourage the
GDF board to adopt it in the mid '90's. That said, I'd like to ask what you
would do in the following scenarios. 

1. You encounter someone, either on a regular basis or just now and then,
whose dog growls repeatedly at other dogs. The handler doesn't seem to do
much to stop the practice and even states that he/she likes it because
he/she lives in a bad area and it keeps people away. The dog has growled and
lunged at your guide several times. What do you do? Should the handler keep
such a dog? If the person owns the dog and the school cannot convince
him/her to retire it, what should happen? 

2. You notice at convention, and I'm not going to go into how you'd notice
this, but you do, that a number of dogs are moderately to severely
overweight. The handlers are good people who are generally good at working
their dogs. What role should the schools have, either those who retain
ownership or those who grant it to the handler, in dogs' overall health? 

3. A school has graduated someone who, it was later learned, lied on his
application about having been to and been denied by or not completed
training at other schools due to various issues. He is granted ownership of
his dog. A number of complaints are filed over their working time about
cruelty issues and health concerns when the dog appears severely under
weight. The person is defensive when the school calls to let him know about
the complaints. The school decides not to accept him for another dog. He
wants you, or your organization, to stand behind his right to have a dog
from that school. Do you do it? What do you base your decision on? 

These are just some of the scenarios I've seen in my 2 years on staff at GDF
and 5 years on their board, not to mention all my time with GDUI. I've been
on both sides of each one in one way or another and there are no right
answers, just things to consider and discuss. 


Jenine Stanley
jeninems at wowway.com