[nagdu] moderator notes

[Julie J.]

Dan,

Fleas were just the beginning. There were also issues of barking and not 
cleaning up accidents.

Julie
On 6/30/2011 7:28 PM, Dan Weiner wrote:
> So let's see...some dogs had fleas and therefore the rule is not to leave
> your dogs unattended?
> Explain that one.
>
> Dan W.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Julie J.
> Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 6:42 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: [nagdu] moderator notes
>
> Hey all!
>
> Wow!   There are a ton of messages.  I haven't read through all of them
> yet.  I will.  In the meantime I wanted to interject a few things.
>
> first and foremost, some of the messages have had a tone that is bordering
> on rude.  I am a very, very, strong advocate of letting people speak their
> mind.  However the writer *must* always be polite and keep
> the message          on thoughts, ideas, facts or plans.  It is
> absolutely not okay to flame an individual or even an organization.  Now
> before people go all crazy on me, please disagree to your hearts content.
> Please tell us all the things you don't like about the NFB.
> I'm all ears, but where I draw the line is when constructive
> critisism turns into just plain whining or worse.
>
> So explain why it is that you don't agree with the policy.  Tell us an
> alternative that could work just as well or better to solve the problem of
> barking and other problems with guide dogs left unattended in hotel rooms.
> Tell us what you have done to ensure that your dog isn't barking even when
> you are not there to know for sure.
>
> I also think it's important for people to know the history behind this rule.
> It hasn't always been a policy of NAGDU and the NFB.  Many years ago at an
> NFB convention in a very nice hotel that had given us very nice room rates,
> guide dogs came that had fleas and were generally a huge problem.  This
> hotel would not host our conventions ever again after their horrible
> experience.  It turns out that hotels, just like all other sectors of
> commerce, talk amongst each other.  It got around that guide dogs at
> convention were a problem.  Other hotels were very reluctant if not outright
> opposed to hosting our conventions.  You will
> notice that NFB conventions get very, very good room rates.   A hotel
> cannot deny a guest with a guide dog access, but when you are talking about
> an entire convention you are talking about a very different thing.  The
> excellent room rates were in jeopardy.  So NAGDU and the NFB came up with
> the plan to self regulate guide dog problems in order that the hotel would
> continue to give us the low room rates.  This is why you are asked to not
> leave your dog unattended, to clean up accidents or to
> get a NFB affiliated person to assist instead of hotel      staff.
> These policies were not dreamt up to single out guide dog users or to make
> our lives more difficult.  They were drafted after problems occurred that
> were affecting the entire organization.  So if there had been no fleas in
> the first place or no dogs barking like crazy in hotel rooms, we would not
> have these policies and would not be having this discussion right now.
>
> Thanks for making this list great!
> Julie
> NAGDU list moderator
>
>
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