[nagdu] should guides be givenasecond ownerifitdoesn'tworkoutwith the first owner?

Sat Apr 16 00:47:58 UTC 2011

Sarah,

Heavens!  I wasn't thinking about your preparing to go from sweet, mellow
Miguell to a poodle beast.  I didn't mean to scare you like that!  /grin/

One key difference between my particular poodle and a program raised and
trained poodle is that mine was pack raised until she was 7 months old.
This means that she grew up with quite an extended family of poodles, some
other types of dogs, kitties, humans of several generations and some other
types of critters, I think.  The house is a "kennel home," which means that
the dogs come in and out of some of it, while the living area for the humans
is separate and dog free except for the actual family dogs.  Apparently, it
is licensed, and not an uncommon practice among small breeders.  Sounds fun,
actually, except that I have no intention to take up dog breeding for a
living.  /smile/  Mitzi was very well socialized with the other dogs, and I
really like how that has formed her overall attitude towards life, but she
had no personalized human attention beyond her puppy bath and clip, then the
bath and clip she got before being tossed in the car at 4 in the morning to
come live in Portland with me.  She was one scared confused little girl that
first day, I tell you.

Anyway, the downside to that, as I have learned the hard way, is that while
she had no human-trained bad habits to break, she was old enough to be
pretty self-willed and mostly formed in her personality.  I now plan to get
a much younger pup to do some of the early conditioning while it is still
young and impressionable.  /smile/

Your poodle will be born and raised from infancy in the manners it needs to
be not just a guide dog but a dog you can live with safely and sanely.
/lol/  It will still probably provide you a whole lot more adventure and
excitement than Miguel has.  That dog has you pretty spoiled, it sounds like
to me.  Can we trade for a while?  Just kidding!

The key to keeping a poodle out of trouble (too much, anyway) is to give
them plenty of outlet for all that energy while giving them enough mental
stimulation and attention to give them other forms of entertainment.  Do not
-- I repeat, do *not* -- let your poodle get bored and feel neglected.
Otherwise, you could lose some really tasty brownies.

I'll wait till you have your own poodle and are hooked before I tell you the
one about the butter, okay?  /evil grin/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Sarah Clark
Sent: Friday, April 15, 2011 4:19 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] should guides be givenasecond
ownerifitdoesn'tworkoutwith the first owner?

Geez, I know a lot of dogs counter surf -- but I just can't picture it!  The

counters are way up there, and the dog is way down there...  I can't imagine

them flying through the air like that!
Obviously Miguel doesn't do it.  He'd occasionally try to grab something if 
it were at his level, and if it were unsupervised. (he only tries it when he

doesn't think he'll get caught).  But I can't imagine him getting something 
way up onto the counter.  But I learned quickly to not lay stuff on coffee 
tables and to keep things from the edge of the table when I'm not there, and

he hasn't tried to get more creative than that.
It may be the case that I don't know exactly what I'm getting myself into 
with this poodle thing...

Sarah & Miguel

----- 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: Friday, April 15, 2011 3:21 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] should guides be given asecond 
ownerifitdoesn'tworkoutwith the first owner?

> Diana,
>
> That is a wonderfully told wonderful story.  What a great dog.
>
> I've come to the conclusion with my own guide dog kinda thing -- who also
> adores that man of the house -- that her stubbornness is what I value most
> about her as a guide.  If I had a dog who did what I told it to, I would 
> be
> in real trouble.  /lol/
>
> As for counter surfing...We actually got through both winter holidays
> without a single pie ending up inside the poodle.  This put us all on edge
> and made us a little jumpy, because we couldn't believe that would 
> actually
> happen, but we finally recovered.  So one night, there was some noise in 
> the
> kitchen, a bit of scrape and something hitting the floor.  Tami slept
> rhrough it.  DD and BB woke up, decided Tami must be walking around and 
> had
> run into something, and started to go back to sleep...
>
> Then they heard another sound (Mitzi must be getting sloppy due to lack of
> practice) and found a crime in progress and nearly done.  So much for the
> brownies...  It took awhile for them to evaluate the scene of the crime 
> and
> work out how it all took place.  Those brownies were quite safely out of
> poodle reach -- we have learned our lessons around here, for sure!  As 
> near
> as any of us have been able to figure out, she took a flying leap over the
> stereo onto the counter from the dining room side, thus inadvertently
> pushing the pan of brownies onto the floor and giving herself away.  Not 
> to
> be deterred just because the cops were alerted and probably on their way,
> she followed the brownies into the kitchen and had her way with them!
>
> So, bad habit not broken, it seems.  I gotta admit, she is certainly 
> clever
> and hardworking in the pursuit of her life of crime.  /lol/
>
> Tami Smith-Kinney
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Diana Dawne
> Sent: Friday, April 15, 2011 12:50 PM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] should guides be given a second
> ownerifitdoesn'tworkoutwith the first owner?
>
> Hi.  Let me tell you about the magical Fuller Brush.  Fuller was 26
> months when I received him.  he was and is a headstrong hard headed
> self absorbed creature.  I think maybe he was raised in a barn as his
> house manners are not wonderful for example he is a sneaky counter
> surfer and even at 7 he still likes to get into things but he had one
> exceptional talent.  He is probably the most awesome guide I have ever
> encountered.  I have had six.  Some of the others probably have equaled
> his abilities but it took a while to hone their skills whereas Fuller
> had those skills coming out of the gate.  Honest to God he was born to
> be a guide and probably a counter surfer too.
>
> I did not bond that well with Fuller as he felt as guide he decided
> what was acceptable and what wasn't and he acted as though anything I
> did for him was the very least I could do and well below what he the
> Magic Fuller deserved but what I needed was a guide and he fit the bill
> perfectly for that so I accepted the rest.
>
> When I returned home with him he immediately totally and helplessly
> fell in love with my husband.  This man was much older than I am and he
> was beginning that decline none of us wishes to consider.  Through that
> time, Fuller continued to work with me and his guide work was perfect
> but as my husband began that downward spiral it was Fuller who was
> close to him.  Although he had children, it was Fuller who loved him,
> who believed in him when he had self doubts, who comforted him when no
> one else could reach him, and who held out hope when things looked very
> bleak.  He is gone now and no one can repay Fuller for the untold
> wonderful good deeds he did for this man and although we have had to
> make some adjustments, Fuller remains the perfect guide or as others
> have referred to him the bomb and of course he also remains a counter
> surfer I just have to use a tie down when I plan to leave things on the
> counter
>
> To my knowledge Fuller was not a reissue he also was not extremely
> young when I got him but he does embody every good trait we hope to see
> in a guide-- well except the counter surfing!  laughter. He is the
> Magical and Enchanting Fuller Brush
>
> -- 
> Diana Dawne PHD
> phone and fax: good for  The United States and Canada 18775232688
> email: drdawne at samobile.net
>
> Email services provided by the System Access Mobile Network.  Visit
> www.serotek.com to learn more about accessibility anywhere.
>
>
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