[nagdu] owner trained dogs

Marion Gwizdala blind411 at verizon.net
Fri Dec 10 12:51:39 UTC 2010


Julie,
    Though there may not be as many owner-trained guide dogs, there are, I 
believe, more owner-trained service animals that have been trained to 
perform other tasks. In any case, owner-trained or program-trained, 
certification is, I feel, not in the best interest of either the h andler or 
the public.

Fraternally yours,
Marion



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie J" <julielj at windstream.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 7:34 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] owner trained dogs


> Albert,
>
> I don't think I could name 50 owner trainers of guide dogs.  However I 
> only know other owner trainers who use a computer, have internet and 
> subscribe to email lists.  There could be a hundred that I don't know 
> about.
>
> I can tell you for sure that there are a ton more people with other types 
> of disabilities that train their own service dogs.  That number would at 
> least be in the hundreds and may be into the thousands.
>
>
> HTH
> Julie
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Albert J Rizzi" <albert at myblindspot.org>
> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 4:58 PM
> Subject: [nagdu] owner trained dogs
>
>
>> Are there any statistics on how many handlers are out there in the 
>> country
>> who in fact train their own dogs? The last figure I heard tell of about 
>> how
>> many guide dog users there are presently in the states number only 
>> 11,000.
>> how many people would truthfully be impacted by a certification process 
>> of
>> sorts and if the numbers are significant then that would be taken into
>> consideration so as to avoid these pointless and endless dialogues  on
>> denial of access, or at least move us closer to a sensible resolution for
>> all affected and effected in this regard.
>>
>> Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
>> Founder
>> My Blind Spot, Inc.
>> 90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
>> New York, New York  10004
>> www.myblindspot.org
>> PH: 917-553-0347
>> Fax: 212-858-5759
>> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who 
>> is
>> doing it."
>>
>>
>> Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>> Behalf
>> Of Marion Gwizdala
>> Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 5:14 PM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Hawaii
>>
>> Jordan,
>>    This will never happen and, if it does, NAGDU would oppose it! There 
>> are
>>
>> provisions in place to protect the public and we have too many
>> owner-trainers for such governmental impositions!
>>
>> fraternally yours,
>> Marion
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Jordan Gallacher" <jgallacher1987 at gmail.com>
>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 12:49 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Hawaii
>>
>>
>>> This is where the ADA needs to be changed.  All someone can ask is is 
>>> that
>>
>>> a
>>> service animal.  Well, there really should be a requirement that even 
>>> self
>>> trained service animals are licensed with an official i.d. card, such as
>>> something that states that it is a service animal. And two, if it is a
>>> self
>>> trained animal, you should need to have the dog pass an examination,
>>> working
>>> wise, and then issued a harness that says something like certified 
>>> service
>>> animal.  And also, the ADA should be changed to allow someone to ask for
>>> documentation.
>>> Jordan
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>>> Behalf
>>> Of Jenine Stanley
>>> Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 10:08 AM
>>> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Hawaii
>>>
>>> Thanks much Julie.
>>>
>>> I think we would all like to simply travel to anywhere in the world
>>> without
>>> restrictions but reality doesn't always permit that.
>>>
>>> The reason there are in fact such requirements as submission of titer
>>> tests
>>> and a health certificate is that the vaccine has not been 100% proven to
>>> prevent Rabies. In the opinion of the Hawaiian government, this is not
>>> sufficient to insure the safety of the state. Although federal law
>>> regarding
>>> access rights and other civil rights does trump state law in most cases,
>>> when it comes to public health, things get messy.
>>>
>>> The other issue rearing its ugly head is fraud. We all know Julie and 
>>> her
>>> dog and that she is a competent owner-trainer. What about the guy who 
>>> buys
>>
>>> a
>>> harness on line, and there are lots of places one can do just that, or a
>>> service dog vest or patches, and calls his well behaved family pet his
>>> service dog, just so it can go to Hawaii with him on vacation. During 
>>> that
>>> vacation, the dog is allowed to run on the beach and maybe even around 
>>> the
>>> time share property freely as a pet, because after all, what do pets do?
>>>
>>> This scenario did actually play out. I got a phone call at 11:00pm one
>>> night
>>> from someone in the Hawaii Quarantine office. Someone had come through 
>>> the
>>> airport with a dog claiming it was a guide dog, but the airline knew
>>> nothing
>>> about it, allowed the person on the plane, big no-no to start, and then
>>> didn't notify the quarantine office about the person's arrival. The dog
>>> was
>>> not a guide and was never tracked down. The airline admitted they 
>>> screwed
>>> up
>>> in not asking any questions, but did assure the quarantine office that 
>>> the
>>> person wasn't blind. How they knew this is a mystery to me, but let's 
>>> just
>>> say the Hawaiian government was not happy.
>>>
>>> The reason I got this call was that they were trying to figure out if 
>>> the
>>> guide dog schools or GDUI kept a registry of people and could they check
>>> names against it. I said that each school had a list of its active
>>> graduates, but they'd have to call each one to find this out. Let's just
>>> say
>>> that time was of the essence and they were not in the mood to deal with
>>> this. It happened shortly after the settlement went into place so I
>>> suspect
>>> someone read all the PR articles and thought, ehy, let me try this.
>>>
>>> Though I'd love to have a way for people to get into Hawaii with the 
>>> least
>>> amount of paperwork, some is going to be necessary. I think local
>>> licensing
>>> as an assistance dog will work in terms of proof of identity but I'll 
>>> need
>>> to check that one out. Local licensing is about the only means someone 
>>> who
>>> owner trains has of proof of identity anyway if he or she wants to 
>>> travel
>>> to
>>> another country that has such a quarantine or other ID requirements.
>>>
>>> I suspect that as budgets tighten around the country, the less paperwork
>>> required and the less staff time required to achieve anything will win
>>> out.
>>> So, you never know what or how the requirements will be changed.
>>>
>>> Jenine Stanley
>>> jeninems at wowway.com
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>>> Behalf
>>> Of Julie J
>>> Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 10:13 AM
>>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Hawaii
>>>
>>> Jordan and Dan,
>>>
>>> I have pretty well stayed out of the Hawaii debate this time around.
>>> We've
>>> talked about it in the past and I've been free with my opinion.  So I
>>> guess
>>> I'll throw caution to the wind and share my thoughts. *smile*
>>>
>>> I agree with the two of you.  It isn't fair that people with guide dogs
>>> have
>>>
>>> to go through so many extra steps to travel to Hawaii.  furthermore as 
>>> an
>>> owner trainer, I am unsure that it is even possible for me to travel to
>>> Hawaii.  I am very much in favor of improving ease of travel to Hawaii.
>>>
>>> but I'm also torn because Hawaii is rabies free.  I can understand how
>>> devastating it would be to introduce rabies to the islands.  However I
>>> would
>>>
>>> think that proof of the vaccine or proof of immunity through a titer 
>>> test
>>> would be sufficient.  not sure how to accomplish that without some sort 
>>> of
>>> extra paperwork requirement.
>>>
>>> I would also like to acknowledge the great work Of Jenine Stanly and 
>>> GDUI
>>> for working diligently to improve the situation.  I don't think it's 
>>> fair
>>> to
>>>
>>> expect massive social change overnight, but Jenine made an incredible 
>>> leap
>>> forward from where things were previously in Hawaii.  I totally 
>>> completely
>>> agree with her when she talked about getting as much as they could in 
>>> the
>>> settlement and working on the rest later.   "It is better to do 
>>> something
>>> imperfectly than nothing perfectly." that's a quote I read yesterday,
>>> sorry
>>> I can't remember whose quote it is.
>>>
>>> Julie
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: "Jordan Gallacher" <jgallacher1987 at gmail.com>
>>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 8:51 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Hawaii
>>>
>>>
>>>> Thanks Dan.   You seem to be one of the few on this group who see 
>>>> things
>>>> the
>>>> same way I do.
>>>> Jordan
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>>> Behalf
>>>> Of Dan Weiner
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 8:15 AM
>>>> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
>>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Hawaii
>>>>
>>>> What is of concern to me, Dan, anyway, is that we have to show any
>>>> paperwork, have international health certificates, blood tests, and so
>>>> on,
>>>> for a state of the USA in order to be accompanied by our guide dogs.
>>>> This is something I've only had to do when I travel to other countries.
>>>> If
>>>
>>>> I
>>>> had to do this every time I traveled to another state here, I'd be 
>>>> forced
>>>> not to bring my dog with me often and I'm a safer traveler with a dog.
>>>>
>>>> Yes, I know it may never be resolved, but that's my opinion and what I 
>>>> at
>>>> least find objectionable.
>>>>
>>>> Dan W.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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