[nagdu] Letting Someone Else Work Your Dog

Tamara Smith-Kinney tamara.8024 at comcast.net
Mon Apr 25 02:27:30 UTC 2011


I am not so sure that people who make such declarations as pure and certain
truth have ever lived in an apartment with a dog and had the flu at the same
time.

Or had a broken tibia and needed to be non weight-bearing for a couple of
months when they also have a large, active, still-young guide dog they can't
work just now.  Sorry, Marion!  Get well soon.  Or had to have surgery or
had a heart attack or...

That doesn't mean the dog stops needing to get out for exercise.  That
doesn't mean the dog doesn't need a chance to practice its high-end skills
now and then.  That doesn't mean it doesn't need to go however many stories
down to use its assigned place to do business.  Or ... Sometimes, it needs
to be fed even when its handler is just too ill or immobilized to do that,
too.

According to guide dog canon -- as I somewhat jestingly call it -- all of
those things will destroy your bond with your dog if you even *think* about
letting someone else do them.

Funny thing about dogs.  They're too lazy to read the canon law and just
keep on doing what they do, which is being, you know, dogs.  /smile/
They're pack animals, which means they're very social, which means they have
an inborn ability to know who is who.  Just like we do, if in a different
way because we are different creatures whose social intelligence and
structure is designed to meet different needs.  /smile/

Certainly, forming a bond with your dog when you receive him/her will be a
process because you will be taking a place in his/her life other humans have
filled before.  You will need to gain his (I'm giving you a boy dog for some
reason, okay?) trust as he will need to gain yours.  You will need to teach
him what you need and expect from him as you will need to learn what he
needs and expects from you.  Some dogs grant their bond of love and loyalty
quickly, some slowly, but it is something you build together.  When it's in
place and set, you have it for life, but you still need to maintain it.  As
you maintain your bonds with your human friends and family.

If your best friend goes to a movie with another friend, will she forget who
you are?  Will she not be your best friend anymore?  Or will she have seen a
movie you didn't want to see anyway while you caught up on your homework, so
everybody's happy.  /grin/  Now, can someone explain to me why I just popped
off a high school metaphor when I have not been *there* in a good many
years.  /lol/

Er.. When it comes to letting someone work your dog, if you judge that this
is okay and necessary of a good idea, just remember...  If your best friend
keeps going to the movies with that other friend because you can't arrange
your homework schedule to ever get to the movies with her yourself, you
probably don't have a best friend there anymore.  But you're doing well in
school because you are diligent with your study habits!  Sorry, silly.  I
guess maybe I'm thinking that it's just a matter of understanding that our
bond with our dogs is a social thing that any teenager can figure out.  Only
we're adults and have much more capacity to evaluate the ins and outs and
pros and cons and can make decisions for ourselves and our dogs that are not
entirely stupid.  Don't know about all human teenagers, but one does look
back and realize you're never gonna win the lottery because you used up your
luck back then by being close to entirely stupid sometimes.  /evil grin/

It's a good question to think about, because new guide dog users seem to ask
it as they get close to gettting their first dog.  I remember being told all
about that, too, and wondering how that worked in real life with real guide
dog users.  Truth is, it depnds on you and it depends on your dog.  Who
knew?  /lol/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Brittney N. Mejico
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2011 6:45 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Letting Someone Else Work Your Dog

what about having someone else feed or relieve your dog I heard having 
others do those things messes up your bond with your dog to? Do you think 
that's true?

-----Original Message----- 
From: Melissa Green
Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2011 5:32 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Letting Someone Else Work Your Dog

I think that some of the schools feel that if someone works your dog that
the bond will be affected that you have with your dog.
I think that there would be times that someone might need to work your dog.

Blessings!
Sincerely,
Melissa Green
When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete,
everybody will respect you


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie J" <julielj at neb.rr.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2011 9:04 AM
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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