[nagdu] extremely basic guide dog questions...

[Lyn Gwizdak]

Chris,
Don't worry about a thing - you know when the dog goes.  The school teaches 
you everything you need to know about dog care, pickingh up after it, how to 
work it, feed it, etc.  Lots of times there are folks who have never owned a 
dog so they teach you how to do all the basics.  You will leave school with 
everything you need - you add more stuff as you need it after you come home 
with a dog.  They teach you how to teach your dog new things specific to 
your own situation.

With a dog, you don't come into much contact with things in the envirnment 
as you do with a cane.  Some people like this and others do not.  With a 
dog, you definately travel at a faster pace than with a cane.  With a dog, 
you don't have to concentrate as hard as you travel - the dog takes you 
around things and stops at the curbs and steps.  But you do have to still 
pay attention.  A dog is a living, thinking being and if you ignore it it 
will take things into its own paws so to speak - especially a German 
shepherd!  Remember, it is a dog.

Learn all you can and pick people's brains.  Hang out with guide dog using 
friends if you can so you get a real idea as to what life is like with a 
dog.

Check out the schools to determine who has the program that fits your needs 
the best - they do all train very similarly but there are differenceds from 
school to school.

I've worked dogs sinse 1973 and have been through several programs for my 
dogs.  Landon is my eighth and he's from The Seeing Eye.  He is a Lab/Golden 
cross and is five years old.  We live in sunny Southern California.

Good luck to you!

Lyn and Landon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris Harrington" <charrington7 at gmail.com>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2011 1:22 PM
Subject: [nagdu] extremely basic guide dog questions...


> Hi!!!
> My name is Chris Harrington, and I've been examining various messages on
> this list for a couple of weeks now, and find getting a guide dog 
> extremely
> interesting. I have several basic questions for people who currently own
> them, and appolagize if my questions are basic. The one I've been 
> wondering
> about, is um, waste management so to speak... When your dog takes a crap, 
> A:
> how do you find it to clean it up? B. Ware do you store such materials 
> until
> you can dispose of them? C. if your dog needs to go, how does he let you
> know? Also, what all does a dog do that a cane can't?
> Thanks to anyone who can successfully answer my questions!!
> Have a great day, and thank you!!!!!
> Chris Harrington
>
>
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