[nagdu] But so and so lets me pet their dog!

[Jennifer L Finley]

Hi Chasady my name is Jennifer.  I don't have my guide dog yet, but it 
sounds like you are going through a lot of the same things that I am going 
through.  My parents are not thrilled about the guide dog idea.  I have a 
fealing that I am going to have to dill with the same things.  I know that 
when I try to explain the guide dog thing to my parents, they don't 
understand.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chasity Jackson" <chasityvanda at charter.net>
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2010 6:58 AM
Subject: [nagdu] But so and so lets me pet their dog!


> Yesterday, a friend and I were waiting for a cab at the grocery store. 
> Apparently the cabby who showed up had driven for us before. He apparently 
> remembered my dog's name. So, while she's still working, and while she's 
> actually walking and guiding me, he sticks his hand out in front of her 
> and says, "Hey Hadley, how ya been?" And starts to pet her. I moved her 
> away from him and said, "I'm sorry, but she's working." And he got 
> defensive right away and said, "But so and so has no problem letting me 
> pet her dog when it's working. What's the big deal?" And when I explained 
> that it interfered with her performance and that it was a big distraction, 
> he continued to be defensive, because his model guide dog team is so and 
> so and her dog. Well, I happen to know the person he's talking about, and 
> I happen to know that she is not at all disciplined in caring for her dog. 
> She lets her dog have table scraps, and tells her dog to speak in public 
> and gives it human food treats. So go figure. LOL. But he just couldn't 
> figure out why I was being so unfair about the situation, after all, if 
> she did it, what was the harm in it. And what was even more funny was that 
> he actually tried to pull a stupid stunt to get an extra tip. He said, 
> "Well, so and so tips me herself, and then she's cute about it and gives 
> me an additional tip from the dog too. She gave me an extra dollar tip 
> yesterday from her dog." And I thought, well, don't hold your breath. LOL.
>
> A few weeks back, a similar incident happened with another cab driver, but 
> it didn't involve petting. It was the beginning of February, and we had 
> some snow and ice on the ground. I was at the top of my porch, about to 
> head down the stairs. This cab driver clapped his hands, whistles to my 
> dog and says, "Come on," and she starts to get excited and go toward him. 
> Had I not been holding onto the rail, I would have easily  fallen down the 
> stairs. So I told him, "Please don't call her. She shouldn't be listening 
> to commands from other people. She's only supposed to follow the 
> directions I give to her. And again, he got very defensive, and said, "I 
> was only trying to show her the way." And I said, "You're not supposed to 
> show her the way. If you insist on helping, you can tell me which 
> direction you are in and I will give her the command to go in that 
> direction. What enraged me more regarding this incident was that later, I 
> talked to my dad, and in frustration, I told him about it. My parents are 
> not exactly the brightest when it comes to guide dogs versus pets, and 
> although they understand quite a bit from me, sometimes they don't have 
> the brightest things to say. So my dad says, "Oh Well, get over it. That's 
> life. Some people are dog lovers and you have to expect that." And then 
> when I said, "I could have fallen," or, "What if she did that while I was 
> crossing the street," my dad just said, that's life, people are dog 
> lovers, s**t happens."
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