[nagdu] should guidesbegivenasecond ownerifitdoesn'tworkoutwiththe first owner?

Sun Apr 17 18:35:34 UTC 2011

Hi Tami,

I know people that have poodles love them.  Though I don't know what it is, 
I do know that there is just something about them.  My husband's family had 
a minature poodle during his teens, and he has always said he thought that 
dog was the coolest dog ever, and incredibly smart.

Someone else I know of has a small poodle as a pet (either a toy or 
minature--not sure).  Their poodle's name is Jocqe.  When they'd go away 
they'd put Jocqe in the basement, so they started telling each other to get 
Jocqe and put him in the basement.  Pretty quickly Jocqe figured out what 
that meant so they started having to spell it -- put Jocqe in the 
B-a-s-e-m-e-n-t.  Guess what, it wasn't long before Jocqe figured out that 
one too. So they finally just started calling it dinner or something like 
that.  I guess that one has worked.

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: Sunday, April 17, 2011 11:23 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] should guidesbegivenasecond 
ownerifitdoesn'tworkoutwiththe first owner?

> Sarah,
>
> Yeah, the poodle temperament is fairly entertaining, mostly because of the
> combination of energy and intelligence.  I was like you, having heard 
> about
> it, enough to begin wondering if even thining about poodles made one as
> goofy in the head as people who had them seemed to be.  Maybe thinking 
> about
> getting one of the silly things is the first sign that you've finally
> cracked?  /lol/  Since they so clearly had to be exaggerating, I concluded
> that a reasonable version of what they described would be pretty cool.  I
> also noted that anyone who has ever had a poodle -- especially if they've
> had poodles, plural -- are absolutely enchanted by them and are just silly
> in love with their dogs.  /grin/
>
> So the poodle intelligence is, um, well...  You'd think I was nuts if I
> really tried to describe it!  When I called the breeder two weeks after 
> I'd
> had a chance to get to Mitzi pup and observe her behavior and become more
> confused by the day, she said what I was describing sounded like Mitzi's
> great grandma when she was a pup.  The breeder warmly assured me that 
> great
> grandma was the smartest poodle she'd ever known in all her life with
> poodles, which was all her life...  I knew I should impressed by that, but
> couldn't deny that what I was feeling was depressed.  Also, fairly
> exhausted.  Busy pup!  Delightful, funny -- I adored her already -- but
> really very busy, generally at two or three forms of trouble all at once.
> /lol/
>
> She is, apparently, a remarkable mellow poodle.  Poodle people would *run*
> across a busy street when they saw us passing by and remark it.  I would
> want to cry with exhaustion.  And the idea that I might have ended up with 
> a
> non-mellow one would weaken my knees.  Or were they just weak from the 
> hours
> I'd spent letting her blow off the top of the energy?  Still, I could see
> that her temperament itself was mellow and had some hopes that, if I
> survived her puppyhood, she would probably be as great a guide as I 
> believed
> she would.  She just needed to grow up enough to learn to focus that 
> energy
> and intelligence, to keep a lid on it when required, and the sky was the
> limit!  I was also absolutely convinced that this would never happen, but 
> I
> might as well keep training and molding so long as she kept showing me 
> that
> she was progressing too fast for me to keep up.
>
> So she is now a wonderful companion and partner who is up for anything, 
> can
> handle anything the world throws at us, transition from rest to play to 
> work
> and back even on trips where she's doing that at random through the day in
> new places.  And she can even lay quietly under the table at a restaurant
> without snagging food (that nose is at exactly the right height) or 
> stopping
> to bond with all the people making googley eyes at her as she goes by. 
> Who
> knew?  /grin/
>
> Anyway, it sounds like you're prepared for one -- even the surprises --  
> and
> have the intelligence and humor to not only keep up but to enjoy the
> journey.
>
> Will Miguel be able to stay with you during his retirement years?  He 
> sounds
> like a wonderful fellow.
>
> 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 6:50 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] should guidesbegivenasecond 
> ownerifitdoesn'tworkoutwith
> the first owner?
>
> Hi Tami,
>
> I've actually been told that many poodles are fairly mellow dogs.  They're
> very curious and alert and walking around, but are not spastic or 
> unusually
> hard to handle.  I'm still not quite sure I know what all that means 
> though.
>
> I know an elderly lady in her 70's though who has a poodle from Pilot, so
> I'd assume her dog must be quite calm and easy to handle in order for her 
> to
>
> have one.
>
> I have been extremely lucky with Miguel I know.  He really never tested me
> much at all.  He has developed a couple little issues such as dog
> distractions, but its nothing a gl won't take care of. Overall, he is 
> quite
> calm and an easy dog to handle.
> I know poodles are extremely smart so it can be a chore to try to stay one
> step ahead of them.  I know people say that, but I have yet to really see
> what that translates to. I'm very curious to see what its like to work 
> with
> one though.
>
> 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 5:47 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] should guides begivenasecond
> ownerifitdoesn'tworkoutwith the first owner?
>
>
>> 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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