[nagdu] leaving campus with your dog

Jenine Stanley jeninems at wowway.com
Wed Feb 2 00:02:43 UTC 2011


OK, this is not GDF official position on this issue but my own opinion as a
handler of nearly 25 years and someone who has worked on classes now doing
various things and who has worked 7, yes 7, different dogs. 

It can take people some time to understand and interpret their dog's
movements. This doesn't mean the staff thinks blind people are stupid or
incapable. Remember, this relationship is between two beings. It's not all
about you as the blind person, but you and the dog. There's a reason for
some down time during class. Dogs absorb training during down time. They get
used to you and how you move as a person who lives with blindness in any
degree, which is very different from how they interacted with sighted
instructors and kennel staff. Some dogs take longer to acclimate to their
new handlers. 

Again, using my own experience, it takes me a long time during class to get
used to the movements of a new dog, how that dog indicates stops, subtle
movements, like going around things, indications of objects, etc. I'd like
to think I'm a pretty capable person but I'd never take a dog on class out
with me without an instructor in unfamiliar territory until maybe the last
few days. I'd want to be sure I was not only able to interpret what the dog
was telling me but that I was giving the right type of correction to match
the offense and to be effective for that dog. 

Some people might be able to do this far earlier with some dogs but in terms
of sheer logistics, that dog is not officially graduated yet and hence is
still property of the school. If it damages something while out and about
without staff what do you do? Are you willing to sign something saying you
are fully responsible if you take a dog out without supervision? Some people
might and that's fine. I'm not there. 

This has nothing to do with how I think the school views me. It has to do
with my own feelings about how I adjust to each dog. I need a lot of time
and walks under my feet to get to know each dog. I'm a firm believer in the
standard line from the schools that it usually takes a while for a team to
gel. I've had those dogs who just snapped into place for me and I've had
those whom I've struggled with for our entire partnership. In both cases
I've had to put in a lot of work to get used to the little things, the
things that make me feel safe with a dog, the stopping, straight street
crossing, etc. I can override a dog faster than you'd know and in the
beginning, my dogs have, as Tracy's and my mutual friend says, to learn to
yell at me to get my attention. 

Jenine Stanley
jeninems at wowway.com







More information about the NAGDU mailing list