[nagdu] extremely basic guide dog questions...

[Elizabeth Campbell]

Hi everyone,

I've read some excellent posts on htis topic.

Chris, I am glad you are exploring the possibility of working wiht a dog. I 
find the experience to be rewarding and positive, but you do need to have a 
lot of patience and be willing to make some adjustments to your lifestyle.

First, I feel it is important to make sure that having a dog is the right 
thing for you. You can always request a Juno walk at our convention, or if 
you are interested in a specific school, an instructor will likely visit you 
to conduct an interview and see how fast you walk, how well you cross 
streets, and so forth.
During a "Juno walk" the instructor simulates the movements of a dog while 
you hold the harness handle.

In my opinion, picking up after the dog and caring for him are easy in 
comparison to learning to trust and work with your dog.
As others have stated, you don't get as many cues about your environment 
when working with a dog. I sometimes take a telescoping cane with me, 
especially when I'm in a new area.

Hope this helps.
Best of luck in making your decision,and this is a great list to bring up 
such questions.

Liz and Seeing Eye dog Gabe
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lyn Gwizdak" <linda.gwizdak at cox.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2011 12:10 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] extremely basic guide dog questions...


> 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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>
>
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