[nagdu] conventions and dogs

[Tami Kinney]

Julie,

As usual, I enjoy reading your well-stated reasoning. Unless we win the
lottery in the next week or two, I am spared of making the decision with
Mitzi poodle, but I like to weigh the pros and cons of taking her to
convention just to stay in practice. We're just not managing to find a
way to get out and do real work for her, so I suppose this year it would
have been too much to take her.  Then again, if I were able to plan to
go to convention, I would also no doubt be putting more time -- and
would hopefully have the financial resources -- to solve my problems in
getting out to practice her more advanced skills and my O&M in more
challenging (and fun!) environments.  I could evaluate her performance
and have a clearer picture of how she might do now that she's an
experienced adult professional. /smile/

We'll be going to a local guide dog user event in the middle of July,
after a vacation in a place where I can get out and give her more work.
In a town of 12,000, so not exactly like doing Portland, but we won't be
hopelessly rusty!

Have fun in Reno while your country dog has fun at the sitters! /smile/

On Fri, 2011-06-17 at 09:49 -0500, Julie J. wrote:
> Hello all!
> 
> I was thinking with only a few short weeks to convention time that it would 
> be good to discuss whether or not to take your guide along.   also if you 
> have taken your guide to conventions in the past please share any hints that 
> you have found helpful.
> 
> I took Belle to Dallas in 2006.  In 2008 I was between dogs.  Last year I 
> opted to leave Monty at home.  This year I am going to the ACB convention in 
> Reno and I will be leaving Monty here.
> 
> I have several reasons for choosing to leave Monty.  Here are a few.
> When we travel he is always in work mode regardless of actually being in 
> harness or not.  I don't see this as a problem for trips of a few days, but 
> I worry about the accumulated stress of no down time over longer stretches. 
> He will not chew on bones or play with toys for more than a minute or two. 
> When given the opportunity to run in a enclosed area, he chooses to stay by 
> me or watch what is going on around us. He is slowly getting better with 
> this, but it is most definitely a work in progress.  He is a very serious 
> guide.
> 
> When I'm on vacation or at a convention, I want to do what I want to do when 
> I want to do it.  Maybe this is selfish, but I'm being honest.  If I want to 
> go to a concert, go tubing down a river, sleep in late, have drinks with 
> friends at 2 in the morning or whatever I don't want to have to worry about 
> running the dog ragged or finding someone to dog sit.  I want to have a good 
> time knowing that my dog is also having a good time.  I enjoy my vacation 
> and I know Monty enjoys his time at the dog sitters home.  He gets to romp 
> with other dogs, dig in the sandbox, splash in the wading pool and other 
> doggie things he doesn't get to do that often.
> 
> My last reason has to do with being an owner trainer in a small town. 
> Because of where I live there are some things that Monty has never 
> encountered or been trained to navigate.  He has never even seen an 
> escalator let alone knows how to work one.   He has never experienced crowds 
> of more than 200-300 people.  the town I live in only has 7,000 people. 
> Sure I could take him to a larger city and teach him these skills, but I 
> have decided that is not the best option for us.  It would be like taking 
> someone who has lived in a small rural community or on a farm and plunking 
> them down in the middle of New York City.  there is going to be some culture 
> shock.  Monty is my small town dog.  I don't think he would be at his best 
> in a big city environment.
> 
> As always, these are just my thoughts and opinions.  It's what works for me 
> today.  Tomorrow I may change my mind. *smile*
> 
> Julie
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 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