[nagdu] contact with puppy raisers/walkers

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Buddy,

Well said!  My gushy, touchy-feely insides just go all goopy about magical
meetings between new handlers and the lovely people who raised the perfect
guide dog puppy gleaming in the light of the Christmas tree while Santa
looks on ho-hoing softly in approval...  DD loves Christmas specials, so I
ended up watching them, can you tell?  /grin/  They're a bad influence!

Anyway, as you said so well, puppy raiser contact may be a highly emotional
issue, but it's not a simple one.  I personally would love to meet the puppy
raisers of any potential program-trained guide, but I won't make it central
to my decision-making.

As things stand now, I can talk to the fool who raised my current guide any
time I like and say anything I want!  She can be pretty rude sometimes
herself, though.  /lol/  You should hear some of the discussions I have with
the trainer!  What *was* that woman thinking?  /evil grin/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Buddy Brannan
Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2010 10:36 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] contact with puppy raisers/walkers

Oh goody! Another hot button issue! Yay!!!! 

I completely understand the reasons for the TSE puppy raiser contact policy.
I understand the historic significance, and also the other reason, i.e.
you're raising a dog for the school, not for a specific person, doing
something for the greater good as it were, a wider cause than one specific
individual. And that's all fantastic, and I agree with the motives and the
reasoning. Do I wish that the policy would be modified? Certainly; I'd love
to have contact with Leon's raisers. Will I lose sleep over it that I don't?
Not especially. While I understand not actively facilitating contact, the
practice of editing letters between the parties is something I have issues
with, even though I understand why. I think, basically, it's one thing to
not encourage contact, but quite another to block it between consenting
parties. Assuming of course both parties are consenting. It's certainly not
as easy an issue as we might like to believe.

I had contact with my first dog's raiser, from a school that isn't the
Seeing Eye. The Ripkens are wonderful people, and we still stay in touch
some even today, over 13 years later. Many relationships are like this. Not
all, though; there are cases such as Jenine has mentioned. There are others
where raisers in one way or another interfere with the team. Conversely, I'm
aware of cases where handlers inappropriately relate to their dog's raisers,
some in the ways Jenine has outlined, other times inappropriately imposing
upon the raiser in some way. So it's definitely not always great, either.
Does that mean that the schools need to chaperone these relationships
because some might e inappropriate? Again, this isn't nearly so easy and
clear cut as some would have it.
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY



On Dec 14, 2010, at 4:59 PM, Jenine Stanley wrote:

> Although GDF does allow contact with puppy raisers/walker, I do feel the
> need to defend TSE's no-contact policy. It has nothing, absolutely
nothing,
> to do with you being an adult. It's about the principle of anonymous
giving,
> selfless giving. 
> 
> I've been in a workshop where a puppy raiser actually said "I raised these
> dogs. I'm entitled to pet them whenever I want. You people are too mean to
> them, never write back and don't deserve them." 
> 
> The man who said this totally embarrassed his family and does not
represent
> all puppy raisers/walkers, but his opinion, or variations thereof, are out
> there and make up the wide reasons people do raise puppies. 
> 
> Also, not everything your dog does now is a result of things it did as a
> puppy or was illegally allowed to do. I've heard from puppy walkers who
were
> crushed when hearing about their dogs' behavior as guides and were berated
> by the handlers for allowing X, Y or Z when they did no such thing. 
> 
> I think those who have issue with TSE's puppy contact policy should read
in
> the literature exactly why it was established. It screams respect for the
> adult nature of blind people. 
> 
> Jenine Stanley
> jeninems at wowway.com
> 
> 
> 
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