[nagdu] Crisis Averted!

Lisa belville missktlab1217 at frontier.com
Mon Feb 7 00:29:58 UTC 2011


That's the other thing about people.  They see these big dogs with these 
huge white teeth and get the wrong impression.  Katy is such a wuss.  I've 
never even heard her bark.

The handle on my recliner apparently doesn't qualify as an exercise 
machine...who knew ?
Lisa Belville
missktlab1217 at frontier.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doug Parisian" <eggmann at mts.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 3:14 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Crisis Averted!


> 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
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> nagdu mailing list
>>>>>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>>>>> nagdu:
>>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/eggmann%40mts.net
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> nagdu mailing list
>>>>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>>>> nagdu:
>>>>>
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/tamara.8024%40comcast
>>>>> .net
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> nagdu mailing list
>>>>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>>>> nagdu:
>>>>>
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/julielj%40neb.rr.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> nagdu mailing list
>>>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>>> nagdu:
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/tamara.8024%40comcast
>>>> .net
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> nagdu mailing list
>>>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>>> nagdu:
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/blueherons%40sbcgloba
>>>> l.net
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> nagdu mailing list
>>>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>>> nagdu:
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/ntorcolini%40wavecable.com
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nagdu mailing list
>>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>> nagdu:
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/missktlab1217%40frontier.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nagdu mailing list
>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>> nagdu:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/eggmann%40mts.net
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nagdu:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/missktlab1217%40frontier.com 





More information about the NAGDU mailing list