[nagdu] dog adaptability and expectations

Wed Mar 31 14:26:47 UTC 2010

Hi Jenine,
Thanks for the advice. When I did my interview with GDB, I told them I 
needed a dog who was a good traveler and could deal with new situations 
because I thought I would be moving in June-July to a new state for grad 
school. Instead, I am going to blindness training and putting it off for a 
year. I agree and think it depends on the dog. I never would have considered 
blindness training and crating my other two guides because we just weren't 
bonded as strongly in the first year and other dog issues. Dee is a lab, and 
she does well with change. During the first month after I got her, we went 
to school for two weeks, my mothers for a few days, a conference in St. 
Louis with 20,000 college students, to a friend's house for a week, and to 
school again, and she was excellent. I'm hoping this change will go as 
smoothly. Someone from GDB is coming next week, and I can talk to her about 
it then.

Martha
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Jenine Stanley" <jeninems at wowway.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 8:44 AM
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [nagdu] dog adaptability and expectations

> Hi Martha,
>
>
> As someone who works for a guide dog school and interviews people during 
> the
> application process, I can tell you that I feel your thinking is a bit
> misguided, pun unintended.
>
>
> Guide dog schools in general do not believe that blind people cannot 
> handle
> sudden change. If anything, we worry about the dog being able to handle 
> such
> change and maintain the expectations of the handler, especially during 
> that
> first year together. Some dogs adapt well to change, sudden or gradual.
> Others do not. As a rule we give general advice while on class and tailor
> that to your specific dog. Some dogs of certain breeds also need more time
> to bond and take direction from their new handlers. I'll go out on a limb
> here and say that Poodles and Shepherds need that extra time, even if 
> lying
> at your desk, with you, not separated from you in a crate. Even if it's
> walking down the hall to the restroom, it all goes toward bonding time.
>
>
> Of course some dogs of those, and all breeds, just take it in stride and 
> are
> happy to see you and work for you when you come to get them.
>
> Although crating your dog during your working hours is far from optimal in
> the view of most guide dog schools, people who work in factory or other
> situations where the dog isn't safe in the work area, also must do this. 
> As
> long as you can take the dog for relief breaks during that 7 to 8 hours,
> maybe even a short walk during the lunch period, it should be fine if the
> dog is OK being left alone. That all depends on your dog though.
>
> Personally, with or without a dog, I think there's nothing wrong with
> acquiring additional orientation and mobility skills. The better you are 
> at
> being able to direct your dog and interpret situations, the better a team
> you will be.
>
> I would advise you, if you feel comfortable, to contact your school and
> speak with your instructor about your particular dog. He or she might have
> some insights about how the dog behaves when left or some advice about how
> to handle any particular habits of your dog. It's not that other blind
> people can't give you advice. It's just that your instructor probably 
> knows
> that dog better than anyone but you at this point.
>
> Hope that helped.
>
> Jenine Stanley
> jeninems at wowway.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Martha Harris
> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 10:11 PM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nagdu] dog adaptability and expectations
>
> Hi Everyone,
> I have been working with my lab Dee since November of last year, and in 
> May,
> I will have her for six months. I am going to BLIND Inc. where she will be
> crated for 7-8 hours per day. However, I will walk as often as I can to 
> the
> center, which is 1.3 miles or so each way, plus work in the evenings and 
> on
> weekends. Many guide dog users say I will "ruin the dog," and it is not 
> good
> to make a dog change routine so drastically because it takes six months to 
> a
> year to become solid. However, I think learning the discovery method will
> help us be a more solid team because I will be able to travel with
> confidence to familiar and unfamiliar places. Is it expectations preached 
> by
> the guide dog schools because they don't believe blind people can handle
> sudden change? Is it that some guide dog users have less confidence in
> themselves and don't believe change is good for them or their dogs, or am 
> I
> way off base thinking like this?
>
> Martha
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