[nagdu] should guides be given a second owner if itdoesn'tworkout with the first owner?

Fri Apr 15 03:15:46 UTC 2011

I don't think you can turn down all reissues, or classify them all in the 
same category.  True that an occasional dog that is a reissue may have been 
sent back for unpleasant reasons like being too hard to handle for the 
handler, or certain health conditions that wouldn't stop the dog from 
working but that the handler didn't want to deal with, etc, but many of them 
are sent back for reasons that are not negative at all.  Maybe the dog just 
walked too fast for the handler and they got home and realized this and that 
they couldn't slow the dog down (this happened to my husband with a guide 
many years ago).  Maybe it just wasn't a good match.  Or maybe the person 
lived in a very hot climate and the dog just couldn't handle the extreme 
heat (also happened with someone I know).
I wouldn't think twice about taking a reissue if the school thinks the dog 
is a good match for me and what I'm looking for.  Its also true that they 
have the experience under their belt so are often more seasoned than the 
younger dogs.  Though it is clear that some applicants don't want them 
because each school I have applied to has asked during the interview if I'd 
be open to having one.

Sarah & Miguel

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lyn Gwizdak" <linda.gwizdak at cox.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 3:01 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] should guides be given a second owner if 
itdoesn'tworkout with the first owner?

>I know a guy who had a guide who had been reissued.  This dog was with a 
>guy who got himself arrested and a jail term and the dog was taken from him 
>and my friend got this same dog.  Boy, what stories this dog could have 
>told if he could talk!  It was a very nice dog and she worked well for my 
>friend and she had a good long working life.
>
> Lyn and Landon
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Lisa Irving" <lirving1234 at cox.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 1:24 AM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] should guides be given a second owner if it 
> doesn'tworkout with the first owner?
>
>
>> Hi there, Tami and Brittney,
>>
>> The more I contemplate the re issuance of a guide dog, I keep thinking 
>> how much it means to me when someone gives me a second chance. Our dogs 
>> deserve as many chances as we can give them; first time out, or re 
>> issued.
>>
>> Lisa and Bernie
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Tamara Smith-Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 10:36 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] should guides be given a second owner if it 
>> doesn'twork out with the first owner?
>>
>>
>>> Brittney,
>>>
>>> I'm glad you asked this question.  That's one of those program policies 
>>> I
>>> ran across while researching for owner-training, and my first response 
>>> to
>>> the notion was very negative.
>>>
>>> Since then, I've heard of enough positive experience with dogs who were
>>> reissued after being returned to have a more favorable view of the 
>>> practice.
>>> Most of what I've heard is from people who have done well with re-issued
>>> dogs or from people who know people...  /smile/  Still, I get it more 
>>> now
>>> and understand the reasoning others have explained, and it does seem to 
>>> work
>>> for the most part.  There will certainly be times when it doesn't, but 
>>> that
>>> is true of matches in general.
>>>
>>> As for whether you're over-reacting...  As a still pretty new and only
>>> somewhat experienced guide dog handler, also an owner-trainer then
>>> self-taught handler, I've been observing the attitudes and ways of 
>>> thinking
>>> of handlers at or just above my level of experience as closely as I have
>>> those of the long-timers.  I can watch my peers in that regard to give
>>> myself a reality check as to how I'm coming along not just in skill but 
>>> in
>>> maturity as a handler while I'm learning from those with much more
>>> experience.
>>>
>>> So here's my observation, based not just on myself but on a generalized
>>> group of other first time handlers going through or just coming past the
>>> team building phase:  We over-react.  To everything.  /lol/  The good, 
>>> the
>>> bad, the mundane...  It is all new and exciting and frightening and
>>> wonderful and awful, all beyond belief.  We popped out to dinner just 
>>> this
>>> evening, and at the restaurant there was just this one little thing that 
>>> no
>>> one would have noticed beyond our table...  Outwardly, I remained calm 
>>> and
>>> responded correctly and it was all okay.  Inwardly, what did I do? 
>>> /lol/
>>> OMG!  How can this be?  What can it mean?  Oh, no, this is so terrible!
>>> Then I noticed nothing had actually happened that was worth all the fuss 
>>> and
>>> got over it.  /smile/  More and more, it's all old hat, but apparently I 
>>> can
>>> still freak out just fine over absolutely nothing.
>>>
>>> As for working through bad habits in your re-issue dog...  I think 
>>> others
>>> are right in their observations that during the first year or so, there 
>>> will
>>> always be something that will make you absolutely crazy about your dog. 
>>> In
>>> your first dog, these will be far more magnified in your own mind than 
>>> in
>>> those you work with later on as a truly experience dhandler.  The bad 
>>> habits
>>> need to be dealt with and modified, certainly, but it's not really habit 
>>> for
>>> you yet to deal with those ups and downs.  So you really have to think 
>>> your
>>> way through it and notice every little thing and try to figure out how 
>>> to
>>> counteract and...  Well, on and on.  It just takes awhile for all of 
>>> that to
>>> become havit and natural.  I've only been there for a short while --  
>>> with
>>> minor blips where I freak out over nothing -- and that sure is nice!
>>>
>>> Good luck with your dog; sounds like you're coming through the tream
>>> building phase and are starting on the next one -- which is where it all
>>> falls together and you're just you working your guide.  /smile/  I'm 
>>> loving
>>> that, and trying to hold onto that feeling as I move into the taking it 
>>> all
>>> for granted phase.
>>>
>>> Tami Smith-Kinney
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>>> Behalf
>>> Of Brittney N. Mejico
>>> Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 3:20 PM
>>> To: the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List
>>> Subject: [nagdu] should guides be given a second owner if it doesn't 
>>> work
>>> out with the first owner?
>>>
>>> Hello all,
>>> My dog had another handler before me.  I don't think that guides should 
>>> be
>>> given another handlerbecause the dog picksup a lot of bad habits and 
>>> they
>>> are  really hard to get rid of.  I love my  dog very muchand harvard has
>>> changed my life, but it took me a year to stop a lot of her bad habbits, 
>>> and
>>> we still have some work to do.  What do you guys think? am I over 
>>> reacting?
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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>
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