[nagdu] researching programs

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Yay, Laveau for supporting the Saints! /grin/

This is a sort of random thought on the subject of dog breeds and which work
best.

I get the impression that there is a certain assumption that the dogs with
mellower temperaments and less busy-ness -- a la the "typical" lab -- will
do better in crowds and noise and the like because they are not so reactive
to their environment.  I think (although it's too early for me to make such
a wild claim) that I've even heard that said, if not in so many words.

Or maybe I just assumed that myself without thinking about it.  But I think
I heard the opposite, because I remember thinking that I would prefer a
problem solving type of guide in crowds and stuff over a dog that waits for
me to tell it what to do when I don't have a clue what's even going on..
/grin/

But more and more over the past year as my high-energy, high-alert,
high-activity dog really comes into her own that when we're in situations --
like downtown where they're doing massive construction and rearrangement and
appear to have firm plans to continue into eternity -- where I'm completely
overwhelmed by the noise and confusion and being totally lost in a place I
knew well just last week, my guide really shines.  So much so that while I'm
just going around with my harness handle in one hand while I tear out great
clumps of hair from my head with the other, I will suddenly remember to
check to see how she's doing with her anxiety and stress and discover she
has none and is in super-duper professional  mode and appears to be enjoying
just doing her job.  Huh.  This is a dog that levitates if someone at the
other end of the house sighs because it sets off her alert system.

She then lets out a low woof to inform Daisy it's time for her to leap out
of deep sleep and run hectically about invesigating and barking loudly just
in case it was something, which Daisy is happy to do.  Having done her part
of keeping the homestead safe, Mitzi sighs deeply and goes back to sleep.
/smile/

That high-alert sensitivity she has going on is very like the dobie, even
more than the shepherd (or so it seems to me).  Yet she is virtually
bomb-proof in milieux that should have those nerves of hers unraveling
totally.  Sounds like Ms. Dobie Laveaux is very much that way.

With Mitzi, it's when she's bored and on safe, familiar ground that I'm
still frequently reminded I need to pay attention to whatever she might be
up to.  /smile/  She guides me around quite handily and safely, but her
dedication to focus and professionalism is nowhere to be found!  /grin/

Somewhere in the past couple of months while I didn't noticed, she picked up
the habit of waiting for me tell her what I wanted her to do and where I
wanted her go instead of simply deciding on her own and sticking to her
decision.  /lol/  She's a surprisingly good little decision-maker, so I
haven't been sweating the issue, just making sure I paid enough attention
that she didn't lead me off somewhere I didn't want to go because I wasn't
on the ball.

Now I've found myself a few times just standing still waiting for something
to happen to the harness handle to tell me what to do and where to go.
Because I'm not on the ball.  /lol/  When the light is right and I look down
to see what's going on with her, I find that she is staring into my face
with that hopeful, expectant, encouraging expression that says, "C'mon!  You
can do it!  I know you can!"  /lol/  She rewards me with her happy dance as
well as instant action the instant I show I'm trained by giving the correct
command.

What really makes me wonder about myself is that this correct -- because it
is the most efficient and workable -- approach to guide work on her part has
been one of my end goals since the beginning.  As with so many things, she
got there way ahead of me, while I was still thinking I really should get to
training to her do things right.

Love that poodle!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of The Pawpower Pack
Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2010 10:09 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] researching programs

Mark,

No one breed of dogs makes the best guide.  We're all different and  
have different needs.  My friend worked this big dopy lab for years.   
He was solid in his cues and very quiet.  I could not have worked him  
because I need a dog with more drive and problem solving skills.   
However this dog worked fine for my friend who lived in a tiny town  
and had a very routine life where she went the same places most of the  
time.  I live in New Orleans and last weekend I was in the French  
Quarter before the Super Bowl, it was chaos and my dog worked it like  
she'd been doing this her whole life.  This type of environment  
would've made my friend's dog shut down.

As for ownership, if you own the dog, the school can't just take the  
dog should they feel that the partnership isn't working out or should  
they feel there is abuse or neglect involved.  They can take the  
harness because all programs own their equipment, I believe.  If you  
own your dog, and if the program felt there was abuse or neglect going  
on, they would have to get the humane officer involved, just as would  
be the case for anyone else.
If the program owned the dog they could take the dog from you at any  
time, for any reason.  Programs usually don't go around taking dogs  
from people but there have been instances where the dog user and the  
program disagreed about and issue, and the program exerted their right  
to take the dog.

I went to a program which did not give ownership immediately when I  
got my first two dogs.  I felt like the program didn't trust me and I  
felt patronized.  I'm not saying this is what was going on, I'm just  
stating my feelings.  I owner train my dogs now, but in future, should  
I need a dog from a program, I'll pick one which gives ownership upon  
completion of training.  Others are just fine with the program owning  
their dog.

There seem to be three types of models where ownership is concerned.
1. the program grants ownership upon completion of training.  A  
program that does this is the Seeing Eye.
2. a program that makes you wait anywhere from 1-3 years before  
possibly granting ownership.  Leader Dogs does this, and so does Guide  
Dogs for the Blind and Guiding Eyes.
3. the program owns the dog the entire time you work the dog.  I  
believe Guide Dogs of Texas, Pilot and Guide Dogs of the Desert do it  
this way.


Good luck,
Rox and the Kitchen Bitches
Bristol (retired), Mill'E SD. and Laveau Guide Dog, CGC.
"It's wildly irritating to have invented something as revolutionary as  
sarcasm, only to have it abused by amateurs." -- Christopher Moore
pawpower4me at gmail.com

Windows Live Only: Brisomania at hotmail.com
AIM: Brissysgirl Yahoo: lillebriss

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