[nagdu] Crisis Averted!

Doug Parisian eggmann at mts.net
Sun Feb 6 20:27:05 UTC 2011 

Julie, hugs to you, bang on.

Doug: Nobody's slave, and nobody's master (well except my dog?)
----- 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: Sunday, February 06, 2011 12:55 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Crisis Averted!


> Tami,
>
> This is all JMHO so do with it what you like. *smile*
>
> I'd trim her however you like, what works for you or what you personally 
> find appealing.  I wouldn't give a hoot about what anyone else thinks.
>
> I've long ago stopped worrying about what others think when I'm walking 
> down the street.  It seems a recipe for insanity.  I do what I do and 
> others can like it or lump it, makes no difference to me. I'm not at work, 
> or the grocery or the bank to make friends or increase people's knowledge 
> of guide dogs.
>
> I'm happy to answer questions if I have the time and the asker seems 
> genuine.  I'm also happy to do presentations for groups if asked and my 
> schedule is open.  However my needs come first, if I have an appointment 
> in 10 minutes I'm not going to be late just so I can discuss somebody's 
> grandmother's next door neighbor's hairdresser that has a dog just like 
> mine.
>
> Anyway it's what works for me.  I think everyone has to find their own 
> balance and that takes time.
>
> Julie
>
> ----- 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, February 06, 2011 12:25 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Crisis Averted!
>
>
>> Julie,
>>
>> Most of the time, I'm used to it, and have my pat answers to the usual
>> questions and comments to deliver with a smile without having to put in 
>> much
>> effort.  People are pretty good about keeping their hands to themselves,
>> since GDB has the populace pretty well trained, but they do flock to the
>> Adorable One.  I swear there are days Mitzi sends out some sort of
>> irresistable magnetic force.  /lol/  I've had friends like that, and it 
>> used
>> to crack me up all the attention they would get and graciously handle 
>> much
>> the way Mitzi does just by walking down the street.  With them, however, 
>> I
>> could just sort of blend into the background and watch the show.  I 
>> didn't
>> have to stand around and answer questions for them.  /lol/  I'm more of a
>> people watcher or a listener than a center of attention type, so I'm 
>> still
>> not entirely comfortable knowing I'm part of a traveling show.  Then 
>> there
>> are those days when one is in a funk and doesn't want to smile and wave 
>> like
>> a bleeping prom queen in the local parade.  /smile/
>>
>> So I decided to let Mitzi's tail grow out some, first in the pom pom, 
>> which
>> saves saying, "She's a poodle" every third step, since the people who 
>> would
>> be asking are telling others for me.  Which cracks me up until it starts 
>> to
>> give me the willies because everybody is watching, or so it seems.  Also, 
>> I
>> think the pom pom is ridiculous!  So now I'm growing it out into a fan 
>> tail,
>> which can be combed out into a fan shape or combed down to resemble a 
>> waving
>> horsey type tail -- say like that of a happy Arabian.  So I must have 
>> that,
>> naturally.  Only it works really well on some of the poodles I know with 
>> the
>> thinner, more wiry show coat.  Only Mitzi has a super thick, soft working
>> coat that you can get lost in (literally if you put off grooming a couple 
>> of
>> extra weeks).  It's getting pretty long, but does not comb out straight 
>> and
>> fall nicely in to a horsey-tail fan.  In silhouette, it looks more like a
>> Japanese paper fan or a French fan or some such.  Before it starts 
>> returning
>> to something more like a pouf.  I keep trying, in case I can get it 
>> figured
>> out.
>>
>> Only people now walk behind me giggling!  Mitzi's expressive with that 
>> tail
>> -- I call it her happy meter -- and apparently even when we're just going
>> along doing normal guide dog stuff like forward, left, right, halt like 
>> we
>> know what we're doing, the tail is carrying on a separate life of it's 
>> own.
>> /lol/  Took me forever to figure out what the giggling was about.  I had
>> become convinced there was a traveling mime troupe in the area that just
>> happened to be performing somewhere in front of me wherever I went.  What 
>> a
>> great thing!  I could pretend I was in Paris!  That is just so...  Then
>> finally someone went from giggling to gushing...  I caught the words
>> "poodle" and "service dog".  Oh, you have got to be kidding me!  I did a 
>> lot
>> of checking out what we could possibly be doing that was so hilarious and
>> was please to discover that we were both in proper position and that I 
>> was
>> much more aware of her position throughout the length of her body than I
>> realized, because we do that without thinking now.  Never thought that 
>> would
>> happen!
>>
>> Took me three weeks to figure out what the cause of all the public 
>> hysteria
>> was.  That freaking fan tail.  OMG!  I do not know what to do.  Do I go 
>> back
>> to having the tail cut short like the rest of her coat, in which case it
>> looks like a docked retrieving breed tail?  (Is that a Portugese Water 
>> Dog?
>> No, she's a poodle!)  Do I go back to a small pom pom to answer the 
>> question
>> on everyone's mind?  Ugh!  I mean, of course, it's cute on her, but...
>>
>> When I was choosing a dog breed and then a dog, it did not occur to me, 
>> not
>> once, that I need to include "not cute" in my specs.  I swear!  Maybe 
>> part
>> of the problem is the absurdly weirdly wonderful (most of the time) 
>> culture
>> around here, especially in the Portland Metro area, but still!  What kind 
>> of
>> self-respecting guide dog user spends months of her life trying to solve 
>> the
>> dilemma of what to do about her guide dog's tale?
>>
>> If I ever get the budget to travel just because, I want to go to New York 
>> or
>> Boston or somewhere else with a reputation for unfriendlines, just to see
>> what happens.
>>
>> For the record, someone did once ask me, nervously, if my dog is a pit 
>> bull.
>> For one wild moment, while I supressed my own outburst of hilarity, I
>> thought of saying yes.  She's the curly, skinny variety with the long 
>> pointy
>> head and nose.  They're the *really* dangerous ones.  I didn't, but it 
>> would
>> have been fun.  /lol/
>>
>> Tami Smith-Kinney
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>> Behalf
>> Of Julie J
>> Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 9:48 AM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Crisis Averted!
>>
>> Tami,
>>
>> I've had a few people think Monty is a pit bull, but then again I've had
>> people think my long ago pet Beagle was a pit bull. *smile*   I can't
>> remember anyone running screaming when they see Monty, but I also don't 
>> get
>> a lot of interference when he's along.  I get a lot of comments about how
>> beautiful he is, but it's rare that anyone gets real close or touches him
>> without asking.  I should say tries to touch him without asking because 
>> he
>> will duck petting from strangers.
>>
>> I appreciate this more than words can express.  I don't think I could 
>> ever
>> work with a Golden Retriever because I don't think I could deal with the
>> unwanted attention.
>>
>> Julie
>>
>> ----- 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, February 06, 2011 11:33 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Crisis Averted!
>>
>>
>>> Doug,
>>>
>>> There have been a couple times when Mitzi's been in super rock star 
>>> mode,
>>> I've actually found myself standing around waiting for her adoring fans 
>>> to
>>> let her move on the adoring fans waiting just ahead and actively mulling
>>> over the pit bull option.  /lol/  I might be a nice change to have 
>>> people
>>> run screaming out of my path everywhere I go.
>>>
>>> No, I'm not seriously going to do any such thing!  Not because I think 
>>> one
>>> couldn't get a pit with a suitable temperament, but the public reactions
>>> would be a nightmare, and you would have to put in so many added safety
>>> precautions and this and that to protect the dog from the public and the
>>> public from the dog (they are heavy machinery, so a boo boo can be
>>> disastrous) that it wouldn't be worth going anywhere with it.  Plus, I 
>>> do
>>> strongly believe that due to the power of the breed, you need to be
>>> neurotic
>>> about your fences and stuff if you're going to have one as a pet, even 
>>> if
>>> it's the sweetest creature on earth.  I'm too lazy!  /lol/
>>>
>>> Just saying.  Using one would give you the sidewalk, bike lane, middle 
>>> of
>>> the freeway, pretty much every path you want to walk, all too yourself.
>>> /evil grin/
>>>
>>> Tami Smith-Kinney
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>>> Behalf
>>> Of Doug Parisian
>>> Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 8:50 AM
>>> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Crisis Averted!
>>>
>>> I suspect the answer for not training certain dog breeds to perform
>>> specific
>>>
>>> tasks, whether that be working as a guide, therapy dog, bomb and drug
>>> detection, police work, etc--these tasks require specific temperaments 
>>> not
>>> found in many breeds.
>>>
>>> Doug: Ya think many folks would want to pet my guide pitbull?
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: "Alysha" <anjeans at att.net>
>>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 8:35 AM
>>> Subject: [nagdu] Crisis Averted!
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hi everyone,
>>>> I just wanted to give you a quick update on my issue with my coworker's
>>>> allergies. We bought 6 air purifiers that we scattered all around our
>>>> working space, and they seem to have done the trick. He's no longer, to
>>>> my
>>>
>>>> knowledge, complaining of any allergy-related symptoms, and management
>>>> has
>>>
>>>> assured me that me and my dog won't be restricted from common areas in
>>>> the
>>>
>>>> building. So thank you all for your responses, and I'm so relieved this
>>>> turned out alright! I wonder why guide dog schools don't train more
>>>> hypoallergenic breeds to prevent these things from happening 
>>>> altogether.
>>>>
>>>> Alysha
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
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