[nagdu] Direct Communication With Puppy Raisers

Tue Dec 14 22:53:18 UTC 2010

Communication is allowed through letters but the identities of the raiser 
and graduate aren't known by either party.

Margo and Arrow
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "peggy spiess" <pegethas at yahoo.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 4:46 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Direct Communication With Puppy Raisers

> Hello
> Sorry if I'm repeating anything here...I can't always keep track of what's 
> been
> said on a topic!
> As a puppy-raiser, I'm really surprised to hear that TSE doesn't allow
> raiser--user communication. I'm in touch with all 3 of the people to whom 
> "my"
> pups went, and it's been an invaluable connection, both ways. I get to 
> fill in
> the gaps about the dog's puppyhood and they get to keep me in the loop 
> about my
> dear friend's new life. Without that, I don't think I could raise...though 
> maybe
> I'm just a wimp.
> Peggy (the puppy-raiser for GDB)
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Peter Donahue <pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tue, December 14, 2010 12:57:33 PM
> Subject: [nagdu] Direct Communication With Puppy Raisers
>
> Hello Doug and everyone,
>
>    Amen! I could have learned if Tim escaped during his time with the 
> puppy
> raiser and what they did to try to curb it. We're adults, not children and
> should have the opportunity to directly communicate with our puppy raisers
> if we and they choose to do so.
>
> Peter Donahue
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Doug Parisian" <eggmann at mts.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 1:28 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Home Safe! Was Looking for Lost Guide Dog
>
>
> Indeed, even when we had double rooms at TSE, both my roommate and I did 
> off
> leash teaching in the room.  When things changed to single occupancy, I
> believe I even stopped using the bed chain after a couple of weeks except
> for at night.
>
> As for TSE not telling anyone about issues surrounding leaving possible
> escape situations for their dog, or for that matter, free play, , perhaps
> some folks missed several lectures in which they stress not allowing your
> dog to free run at any time (obviously, I didn't agree but kept quiet) and
> even trotted a rather old musty letter from a graduate who did allow his 
> dog
> free run and the poor animal became two-dimensional.
>
> The last time I was there in 2002, they actually took us near the kennels
> where the dog was sure to be excited and distracted, gave us a little 
> dingly
> cat bell (yechchch) and had us work on calling our dogs back, first using
> the long retractable leash, then no leash at all.  Miss Payton passed with
> flying colours.
>
> Now, if they'd only drop their rather unfortunate anal policy of not
> allowing those of us who want to do so meet our puppy raisers.  I'm 
> talking
> here about choice, not a forced graduation tear-jerker situation.  Saying
> thank you is not a dirty word!!
>
> Doug: like any good tail, all's well that ends well.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Cindy Ray" <cindyray at gmail.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 12:43 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Home Safe! Was Looking for Lost Guide Dog
>
>
>> Why can't you teach off leash. That is a longer term teachingthe way I
>> understand it. I always start doing it in my room when I am getting a dog
>> as
>> a part of my obedience training; or if not very soon after I return home.
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC) (Internet)" <REBECCA.PICKRELL at tasc.com>
>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 12:07 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Home Safe! Was Looking for Lost Guide Dog
>>
>>
>> Thing is, if Seeing Eye (and I'm calling them out because Cindy did) 
>> knows
>> that dogs will escape, why don't they teach off-leash recall?
>> Not trying to school bash, and I'd have way more understanding if the
>> cause
>> and effect hadn't been figured out, but if the schools know that certain
>> conditions will make a dog escape, the next logical step is to teach
>> off-leash recall.
>> And to thicken this a bit, if we don't own our dogs, can we legally add
>> training without violating our contract? It's like software, if it's
>> freeware or shareware, I can do whatever I want with it. If I buy it, I'm
>> really only paying for the ability to use the software not to customize
>> it.
>> So, the schools don't get a pass from me.
>> Plus, while it's easy to say " keep hold of the dog" you can't do that
>> every
>> single second of every single day. Add other humans to the mix and it 
>> gets
>> even harder.
>> I could also argue that it isn't my job to teach off-leash recall. If I
>> get
>> a dog froma school, it should have that already built-in. Just like if I
>> buy
>> Microsoft Office, I shouldn't have to code my own word processing
>> ackage.  -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>> Behalf
>> Of Cindy Ray
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 12:52 PM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Home Safe! Was Looking for Lost Guide Dog
>>
>> Well, I say, almost any dog will run free if it thinks it can. And once a
>> long time ago we had a tip from TSE that said that once a dog discovers 
>> it
>> can go out a door, it will do so with regularity. I don't think we can
>> blame
>> the school. Our vigilance is required here, but now and then something
>> like
>> that happens.
>>
>> Doug, I wondered, too, that the folks across the street didn't have a 
>> clue
>> to whom that dog belonged. Once I gave my dog to a woman who moved to
>> Arizona. The dog slipped out of her house. She searched and had the
>> neighborhood search. Meanwhile, someone saw on the tag that the dog still
>> had our address in Lawrence, KS on it, so she called outvet. Guess it was
>> the vet's number because it was the rabies tag. They called me with the
>> woman's number and I called her. She said she had found the dog wandering
>> the streets. Couldn't believe altogether that this was true, so I called
>> the
>> number of the woman in Arizona to whom the dog had been given and said I
>> had
>> some information she might like to have if she would return my call. I
>> really think she felt terrible, toldme all that was going on with the dog
>> and swore she had hunted for her and that workmen were doing work in the
>> house and had left the door opened. The dog had ben at her feet, she 
>> said,
>> and was suddenly gon. Well, I believe hr because stuff happens. I had her
>> for 6 or so years, so I doubt the school could have forseen she would 
>> bolt
>> like that. Can't say she ever had here.
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Doug Parisian" <eggmann at mts.net>
>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 11:43 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Home Safe! Was Looking for Lost Guide Dog
>>
>>
>> For the sake of continuity, I have left all the replies etc below my
>> observations.
>>
>> Let's not place total blame on schools for providing such and such a dog;
>> what ever happened to owner responsibility?  Indeed, mistakes and
>> accidents
>> certainly do happen.  I've experienced two or three escapes over 35 years
>> and frankly, they were my own fault for:
>>
>> 1   not training my dogs to come off leash.  Four out of my five dogs 
>> have
>> all been trained to do so, starting with my second after his first great
>> escape,  Fortunately, he had his tags and was found about 6 blocks away,
>> apparently having taken one of several routes we often walked together. 
>> A
>> cab company with whom I had an account picked up the fair, brought him
>> back,
>> and charged just as though he were a human passenger.  But then, what 
>> else
>> would you expect from a dog named Iggy--YIKES!!!  Anyone experienced in
>> dog
>> training can help establish this behaviour, there is nothing magical or
>> related to blindness in such training.
>>
>> 2.  Since I owned my own home; having a dog loose in the yard means 
>> having
>> a
>> fence, clear and simple with any entrance gate being spring-loaded so 
>> that
>> said gate cannot remain open.  Further, it is extremely rare that I ever
>> allowed any of my dogs to be out in the yard unaccompanied.  Jingling
>> items
>> can help maintain awareness as to where the dog is if necessary.  If one
>> cannot built a fence, either do not let the dog have free run, or provide
>> a
>> tying device of appropriate length.
>>
>> 3.  Ensuring that my dog is properly tagged at all times.  Further, all 
>> my
>> dogs have the chip imbedded in them (I've often thought of getting one 
>> for
>> myself in case of accident etc.)
>>
>> It's sad but true that there are far too many dullards living around each
>> other who are completely and totally oblivious to each other.  Amazing
>> that
>> a neighbour across the street had never seen this fellow with his
>> dog--that
>> one makes me real suspicious
>>
>> Doug: All tails are happy that end well.
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Dan Weiner" <dcwein at dcwein.cnc.net>
>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 11:15 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Home Safe! Was Looking for Lost Guide Dog
>>
>>
>>> Tell me about it, I used to have tat problem with Carter, it can be a
>>> nightmare.
>>>
>>> Dan W.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>> Behalf
>>> Of Peter Donahue
>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 11:50 AM
>>> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Home Safe! Was Looking for Lost Guide Dog
>>>
>>> Hello Ginger and everyone,
>>>
>>>    This is exactly why I was quite angry about receiving a dog who had a
>>> tendency to escape. Tim was my first dog from SE and had to be chased
>>> down
>>> many times when he was younger. This is something that should have been
>>> noted by his puppy raiser and corrected prior to him entering guide
>>> training. I'm pleased to say that like my second dog Ogden Johnny is not
>>> an
>>> escape artist. All the tags, microchips, Pit Bull round-ups, and service
>>> dog
>>> protection legislation in the world won't help if your dog has the urge
>>> to
>>> run away and nothing is done to discourage it.
>>>
>>> Peter Donahue
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Ginger Kutsch" <gingerKutsch at yahoo.com>
>>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 6:02 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Home Safe! Was Looking for Lost Guide Dog
>>>
>>>
>>> FYI. Good reminder for us all to replace tags ASAP!
>>> Missing St. Paul guide dog found by neighbor, reunited with owner
>>> Neighbor finds the runaway retriever
>>> By Rhoda Fukushima and Tad Vezner
>>> Pioneer Press
>>> Updated: 12/13/2010 11:53:13 PM CST
>>>
>>>
>>> Service dog Spalding, a 22-month-old male golden retriever,
>>> disappeared Sunday in St. Paul s Merriam Park neighborhood.
>>> (Courtesy to Pioneer Press: McDevitt family)A blind St. Paul man
>>> who lost his guide dog in the freezing cold Sunday - and spent
>>> that day and the next wrought with worry - was relieved to
>>> discover late Monday that the dog had spent the night in a warm
>>> kitchen across the street.
>>>
>>> About 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Justin McDevitt went to shovel snow in
>>> back of his house in the 1700 block of Marshall Avenue in the
>>> Merriam Park neighborhood. He believes Spalding, a 22-month-old
>>> male golden retriever, followed him outside: When McDevitt went
>>> inside an hour later, Spalding was not there.
>>>
>>> McDevitt called for him, but the dog did not respond.
>>>
>>> McDevitt immediately contacted the St. Paul location of the
>>> Animal Humane Society and the St. Paul Animal Control Center. His
>>> wife went outside to scour the neighborhood and alert neighbors.
>>> Numerous media outlets picked up the story about the dog, who is
>>> McDevitt's fourth and had only been with him and his family a
>>> matter of weeks.
>>>
>>> A resident about a block down saw one of those news reports
>>> Monday evening, and noticed the dog looked suspiciously like the
>>> one that a next-door neighbor had found at 2:30 p.m. Sunday,
>>> running around outside.
>>>
>>> "He was just all by himself, and there were people at the other
>>> end of the block, so I thought he was with them," said neighbor
>>> Connie Murphy. "First I told him to go home, and he just looked
>>> at me. Then I called and he came running and just sat down. He
>>> was just the most awesome dog in the whole world."
>>>
>>> Murphy, who has two dogs
>>>
>>>
>>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>>> ---------------
>>>
>>> Advertisement
>>>
>>>
>>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>>> ---------------
>>> herself, walked the dog around the neighborhood on a leash,
>>> asking those shoveling their walks if they knew who his owner
>>> might be.
>>> Everyone shook their head.
>>>
>>> "It was cold and getting colder. I took him in to get warmed up,"
>>> Murphy said. First she kept the dog in a kennel, but let him out
>>> when she saw how well behaved he was. Spalding slept the night on
>>> her kitchen floor.
>>>
>>> He was wearing a black and red nylon collar but no tags. Spalding
>>> normally wears tags, but they broke off last week when McDevitt
>>> mistakenly hooked the leash into the tag ring.
>>>
>>> On Monday evening, Murphy heard from a neighbor that the dog
>>> might be McDevitt's, who lives across the street and two doors
>>> down. She turned on the television, saw a news report and called
>>> McDevitt's wife.
>>>
>>> "I think I have your dog," she said.
>>>
>>> "I'll be right over," the woman replied.
>>>
>>> "She was - zoom - right there!" Murphy said.
>>>
>>> Within minutes Spalding and McDevitt were reunited.
>>>
>>> "He was real happy. I was real happy," McDevitt said Monday
>>> evening.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>> On Behalf Of David Andrews
>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 4:08 AM
>>> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org; mn-abs at nfbnet.org
>>> Subject: [nagdu] Looking for Lost Guide Dog
>>>
>>>
>>> From KARE-11 TV:
>>>
>>>
>>> ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Guide Dogs for the Blind is asking for your
>>> assistance in locating a lost dog named "Spalding."
>>>
>>> The 2-year-old male yellow Labrador Retriever/Golden Retriever
>>> cross breed has been specially trained to assist his blind
>>> partner in safe mobility. The two have been traveling as a team
>>> since October.
>>>
>>> Spalding has been missing from his home since 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
>>> He was last seen on the 1700 block of Marshall Avenue (between
>>> Fairview and Snelling) in St. Paul.
>>>
>>> Spalding has tattoos in both ears with his ID number. If you have
>>> any information about this lost Guide Dog, please contact
>>> Graduate Services at Guide Dogs for the Blind by calling
>>> toll-free: 800-295-4050.
>>>
>>> Established in 1942, Guide Dogs for the Blind provides enhanced
>>> mobility and quality of life to people who are blind through
>>> lifetime partnerships with Guide Dogs. This non-profit
>>> organization, headquartered in San Rafael, Calif. is the largest
>>> school of its kind and has produced more than 11,000 partnerships
>>> across the United States and Canada. Services are offered
>>> entirely free of charge.
>>>
>>> (Copyright 2010 KARE. All rights reserved)
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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>
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