[nagdu] Using a guide dog in a gym

[Tracy Carcione]

Hi Rick!
I go to a gym with my dog.  There happens to be an out-of-the-way corner,
about 15 feet from the machines, where I can put him at rest.  I loop his
leash over the doorknob there, but really he doesn't move.  I've taught
him that, when I put my coat on the floor, he should curl up on it and
stay there.  All that requires is taking a coat I don't mind putting on
the floor.
Sometimes people talk to him, but they understand he's a service dog, and
mostly they leave him alone.
My gym is not particularly noisy, and I am never far away, so, if there
were a problem, I should be able to notice it and get back to Ben very
quickly.  In about 4 years, I've never had to go racing over.

We also use the coat on the floor method during our dance class.  I tie
Ben to a large object in that gym, but usually he doesn't move.  In dance
class, people do sometimes pat him and get him excited, and I have to go
over and get him re-settled, and ask the people not to do it again. 
Mostly they listen.
HTH.
Tracy

> Hello everybody,
>
>
>
> I work out regularly in a public gym. I began this regime at the beginning
> of the new year.
>
>
>
> One level of the gym has cardio equipment, such as treadmills, stair
> masters, and elliptical machines. Another level has strength training
> weight
> machines. I spend about a half hour doing a circuit with the strength
> training machines. They're pretty close together. Once you start your
> circuit, each machine is a step or two away from the last one. The cane
> suffices nicely in this environment, and I need both hands to adjust
> weights, lift or pull, etc. The cardio floor is no problem, since there's
> room for my dog to rest beside me while I work on whatever machine.
>
>
>
> I haven't shown up there yet with my dog, though I've told staff that I
> will
> soon. Ideally, I guess I'd need a place on the weight machine level that's
> out of the way but within sight of me. I've asked staff if there's such a
> place they could suggest, and they didn't have any bright ideas. Even if
> they put a hook into the wall for me or had a chair under which the dog
> could scoot, I've never tied my dog at rest in a public place where
> strangers could mess with him in all kinds of ways and then left him
> unmonitored for minutes at a time. I guess that worries me. Please, how
> have
> others handled this kind of thing. Thanks very much.
>
> Rick fox
>
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