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

[Linda Gwizdak]

Hi Chasity,
So, your Dad says, "That's life, s**t happens."   He is right.  You can't 
control what others do, but you can control what YOU do.

With the cab company - are they the only act in town? If not, switch cab 
companies. If they are the only company, ask for another driver. Get the 
name and hours of a driver who has been respectful to you and ask for that 
driver if you can. If you can switch companies, call the origional one and 
tell the owner about why you cannot use them anymore. If you use cabs alot, 
that means MONEY lost to them. They may "fix" the problem of that driver. 
(grin!)

As far as people calling your dog when you were on the icy steps, give the 
DOG a very sharp correction - holding on to the rail so you don't fall.  No 
fooling aroound - the dog needs to know that this kind of distraction is NOT 
OK!  A sharp correction lets the dog know he did wrong - and the person 
knows that the correction is a consequence of their action of distracting 
the dog as you are walking.

These are things I do and it works for the most part.  If a person bitches 
about the correction, tell them, "Well, YOU caused that - what's your 
problem?"  That usually shuts them up.  Also, many times a person makes 
noises at the dog to gain it's attention. Same thing, I correct the dog for 
that and don't say anything - no arguments - with the person.  I just let 
them see some good ole "cause and effect" in action. I treat the person as 
if they were a squirrel - well they have squirrel brains - and leave it at 
that. (grin!)

In a nut shell - no pun! - I do what I can to control what I and my dog do. 
I can't control what other people and animals do.

HTH!

Lyn and Landon
----- 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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