[nagdu] Letting Someone Else Work Your Dog

Sun Apr 24 20:49:51 UTC 2011

Hm...  When Mitzi's at a good working pace, her gait is really very smooth.
When I can still see her head, I will notice that is walking with it
straight in front of her an forward like she's a dog or something...  /lol/
That's not her natural way of going, being more of prancer and dancer with
her head held high and looking everywhere at once.  But when she's into her
working walk, she's all business and just pulls into the harness and moves
right along.  It still seems strange when I realize she's doing that.  Then
again, it's always seemed odd to me to ride a horse that isn't do the same
thing poodles normally do, since I so rarely ride a horse that isn't an
Arabian.  A well-trained proper quarter horse always made me feel like I'm
on a large barrel with no head, and it was a bit unnerving.  The young
Percheron dressage prospect I took a lesson on once just for fun seemed like
a large tank with no head.  /lol/  Mitzi, except for being black, doesn't
remind me of that at all, but I can never help the feeling I've suddenly
gone from Arabian to Quarter Horse when I notice her working head carriage.

So maybe working a poodle won't be that much different for you, really.  I
still imagine other poodle guides like the wild child version of mine and
just figure other poodle guide handlers are just too cool to let it bother
them.  /lol/

Sounds like you're going to have fun!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Sarah Clark
Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2011 2:55 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Letting Someone Else Work Your Dog

No one else has ever worked Miguel, except my husband a couple of times in 
our last building when he was taking him outside to relieve for me. But he 
doesn't do it anymore since I now just heel Miguel on leash when taking him 
out.
I worked another person's poodle guide for about 20 feet down the sidewalk 
one time, just to see what it was like to walk with a poodle.  Strangely 
enough the gate felt just like Miguel -- a bit of a bouncy gate. (Miguel 
walks by sort of tossing his hips from side to side so I don't know what you

call that... a prance, or bounce, or something).

Sarah & Miguel

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sheila Leigland" <sleigland at bresnan.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2011 9:13 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Letting Someone Else Work Your Dog

> My husbands last dog anna wouldn't even walk on leash with our son, she 
> just sat down and wouldn't move. My dog was sick one day and I thought 
> about trying to take anna to work with me but she would have none of it. 
> She wouldn't even go to the door let alone out.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Julie J <julielj at neb.rr.com>
> Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2011 9:04 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Letting Someone Else Work Your Dog
>
> I let a friend work Belle around the block to see what working a guide was
> like.  I tried to let someone work Monty, but he was having none of it.
> Like others have said it depends on the dog, the person and the situation.
> I think just like everything else if it's done responsibly, I don't have 
> an
> issue.
>
> With my own dogs though, I would be concerned that the other person 
> wouldn't
> know how to work them.  Since I've owner trained, the particular set of 
> hand
> gestures, verbal commands, foot placement and sequences of behaviors is
> probably different from the standards taught at a program.  Unless I spent
> some considerable time teaching all of that to the other person, I don't
> think they'd get the results they were looking for.  I suppose the same
> could be said of a person who has never worked a dog before or a person
> whose dogs came from a different program.
>
> It's interesting that in some countries guides are given to couples 
> because
> they don't have enough dogs to go around.  Both individuals are trained 
> with
> the dog and each works the dog, swapping back and forth frequently.  No 
> idea
> what happens when both people want to go somewhere at the same time 
> though!
>
> Hope the accident wasn't too painful.  Feel better soon!
> Julie
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Buddy Brannan" <buddy at brannan.name>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2011 9:38 AM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Letting Someone Else Work Your Dog
>
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I expect most of us have, at one time or another, test driven someone
>> else's dog for one reason or another. Though, certainly, whether and who
>> depends a lot on the dog, the person, and lots of things that really 
>> don't
>> apply to car ownership. I do agree, though, that this decision, like so
>> many others, rests with the guide dog owner. Which is to say, I think 
>> it's
>> perfectly acceptable for us to be empowered to make bad decisions, too,
>> although I of course never make that kind.
>> --
>> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
>> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY
>>
>>
>>
>> On Apr 23, 2011, at 8:21 AM, Cindy Ray wrote:
>>
>>> Ouch, Marion, sorry to hear of your accident. As for working a dog, I
>>> wouldn't most of the time myself, though I might let someone try it as
>>> you did. But I did once work my ex-husband's dog. I had had a dog for a
>>> while but she didn't work out. His dog was very fond of me, and I was
>>> suffering from wondering if I ought to go back and try for another dog.
>>> My husband thought I should test drive his dog. He said he wasn't really
>>> concerned about any fall out from it. I said, should I take him around
>>> the block? And he said, heck just go anywhere with him, you're a good
>>> user. We did walk, and the dog quickly matched my strie (Chuck is tall
>>> and I am short) and we had a marvelous walk around downtown Lawrence. I
>>> no longer questioned whether I ought to go back and get another dog.
>>>
>>> Cindy
>>>
>>> On Apr 23, 2011, at 6:20 AM, Marion Gwizdala wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dear All,
>>>>   I wanted to comment on the provision that many training programs have
>>>> in their agreements concerning allowing someone else to work your dog. 
>>>> I
>>>> frequently compare owning a guide dog to owning a vehicle, including 
>>>> the
>>>> right to own the harness just as car owners own their keys. Similarly,
>>>> if someone owns a vehicle and allows another to use it, that is fully
>>>> within their rights, provided that person is a licensed driver and is
>>>> either covered by the insurance policy or is somehow otherwise insured.
>>>> Here are my thoughts on allowing another to work my dog.
>>>>   When I went to convention in years past with one of my previous dogs,
>>>> I would allow someone who had never worked a dog "test drive" one of
>>>> mine. I had no fear that the training program from which I received my
>>>> dog would interfere with this, as I have ownership. Through this
>>>> experience, I have introduced many people to the joy of working a guide
>>>> dog. Now, I would probably not let a novice work my current guide dog,
>>>> as he is a lot to handle.
>>>>   On Thursday, I fell and fractured my tibia; I am non-weight bearing
>>>> for the next two months. My dog was going stir crazy, so my wife took
>>>> him out and worked him. She will also be taking him to school with her
>>>> on Monday. Merry is a seasoned guide dog handler and is very competent
>>>> to work Sarge. In addition, Sarge needs to work. In fact, he is
>>>> insisting on it! (grin) Merry will be working him regularly while I
>>>> recover, keeping his skills up and giving him much needed exercise. I
>>>> have absolutely no fear posting this message to a public list because I
>>>> know GDF will not interfere with my choices. This is not true of other
>>>> programs who seem to be looking for reasons to take a dog away just to
>>>> reinforce their ability to do so and keep their consumers in line
>>>> through fear and intimidation.
>>>>
>>>> fraternally yours,
>>>> Marion Gwizdala
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
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