[nagdu] questions about having a guide dog

[Julie J.]

Tatyana,

Thanks for joining us on the list!  I'm Julie, one of the moderators.  
Your questions don't have any hard and fast answers, but I'll give you 
my take.

Can a dog handle a plane ride of 11 hours?
Depends on the dog.  Some dogs could do it.  Don't feed or water before 
going and be sure to give ample opportunity to relieve beforehand.  If 
you can work the trip into an overnight thing so the dog will be 
sleeping that would probably be best.   My older retired guide dog 
frequently goes from 8 pm to 8 am or later without going outside.  She 
has the opportunity, she just chooses not to take it sometimes.

Can a guide dog go two weeks without working and maintain it's skills?
Yes, absolutely.  Last summer I had an accident and couldn't work Monty 
for a couple of weeks.  He jumped back into guiding like he hadn't 
missed a day.  this summer I broke my foot.  Monty hasn't worked in 5 
weeks and I expect it will be another 8 before he'll be working again.  
He may need a bit of brush up training to get back into tip top 
condition, but I expect the core skills will still be there.

Now if you are asking about being separated from the dog for two weeks 
that is a bit different.  I do send my guide to the dog sitter sometimes 
when I travel.  He really likes it there.  The longest I've ever left 
him was 10 days.  I think if I had it to do over I'd try to limit the 
separation to a week.  I also don't leave him frequently, maybe once a 
year or less.  all that said, life happens and you do what you have to 
do.  If you need to be separated for two weeks or longer it can be 
worked out.

Do I have access problems frequently?
No.  Actually I've only had one and it was resolved through my 
explaining things to the hotel clerk.  the entire episode lasted only a 
few minutes and was resolved to my complete satisfaction.  I live in the 
U.S. in a rural agricultural based area.  People here are used to dogs 
with jobs.  I don't use taxi's since there aren't any.  Access problems 
and their frequency seem to vary quite a bit depending on location and 
type of places you frequent.  I don't want to sound judgmental, but 
ethnic restaurants are notorious for access issues as are taxi's with 
ethnically diverse drivers.

I'm glad you're asking questions!  It would be concerning if you had no 
questions about getting a guide dog.  Again, welcome to the list!  If 
you think of anything else ask away!
Julie


On 8/30/2011 6:35 PM, Tatyana wrote:
> Hi,
> I'm not a guide dog user, still can't decide.Many, many questions.
>
> Can a dog stand 11 hours in an airplane before to relief?
>
> If you are not taking a dog with you while you're on leave, can a dog 
> stay without  you for 2 weeks and not lose its shape as a service dog? 
> Wouldn't it be also  a bad psychological impact?
>
> How often do you need to fight for the  right  to bring  a   dog with 
> you in restaurants, pools,  medical offices and other public places? 
> Is it something that you do all the time or you get  mostly normal 
> attitude from employees?
>
> Thank you and all the best
> Tatyana.
>
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