[nagdu] Crisis Averted!

Doug Parisian eggmann at mts.net
Sun Feb 6 21:14:14 UTC 2011 

Glad you found a vet you like; now, how about the vet for your dog?

Doug and Cujo
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lisa belville" <missktlab1217 at frontier.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 2:47 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Crisis Averted!


> Oh yes, they do, even people who should know better like a vet.
>
> My first dog was a Black Lab/Golden Retriever cross.  I was asked if he 
> was a mastiff, a pitbull, a wolf, and several other breeds that, if the 
> person doing the asking would have just thought about for a nanosecond 
> would have been laughable.
>
> My vet in Florida didn't believe it, either.  He asked me in this totally 
> bewildered voice: "Did they do that on purpose?" As if a black Lab and a 
> Golden Retriever had somehow snuck off for some fun when no one was 
> watching.
>
> So yeah, the stupidity and over all cluelessness of the general public is 
> alive and well.
>
> Incidentally, the vet who asked me if the school did that on purpose was 
> one of my best vets, so go figure.
>
> The handle on my recliner apparently doesn't qualify as an exercise 
> machine...who knew ?
> Lisa Belville
> missktlab1217 at frontier.com
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Nicole B. Torcolini at Home" <ntorcolini at wavecable.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 2:26 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Crisis Averted!
>
>
>> Okay...now I've heard it all. I've heard of mixing up breeds, but not 
>> mixing up species.
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Dixie" <blueherons at sbcglobal.net>
>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 12:21 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Crisis Averted!
>>
>>
>>> Hahahaha, is that a Pit Bull?  I had someone once ask me if my brindle 
>>> boxer
>>> was a "baby tiger?"
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dixie
>>> ~  @-> ~ <-@  ~
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>>> Behalf
>>> Of Tamara Smith-Kinney
>>> Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 1:25 PM
>>> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
>>> 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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>>
>>
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>
>
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