[nagdu] conventions and dogs

Fri Jun 17 21:28:10 UTC 2011

Hi everyone.

Thank you Jenine for those tips.  I was going to post many of them
here, but you said them so much better than I would.

I was very very nervous last year before convention.  I knew my dog
would handle the crowds fine(After all, she spent her first year
guiding working in a high school of over 2 thousand teenagers), but
she has a very sensative stomach.  I believed that if she got
stressed, I would have a problem.  Fortunately, she was a little
trooper.  She worked very well.  She played the crowds like a game
after getting used to the canes.

Just a note for those of you who have never taken your dog to a
convention: Your dog needs time to figure out what to do with all the
canes. The blind cane users(as Jenine said) cannot see the dog, so
therefore, they do not know how to get out of your way.  I've learned
the hard way that it only gets worse if the dog user in this situation
tries to move the dog or help in any other way.  I ended up getting
tangled in another person's cane.  But when I started just letting
Brie figure it out, she learned quickly.  She understood that the
people with the long white sticks were not going to move for her.
After the first 2 days, we were flying through those crowds with no
problems.

Here's another tip.  If you target elivators with your dog, do this at
convention.  Very sueful.  Sometimes there is a mad rush for the
elivators, and it feels really great to just say "elivator" and be
there ahead of everyone else.

Every dog is different.  I find that if I let my dog unwind in my room
enough, she is fine for work.  What my dog really wants during a
convention like this is sleep.

This is only my second convention though, so I'm definitely not the
expert.  I'm sure I have much to learn.

On 6/17/11, Jenine Stanley <jeninems at wowway.com> wrote:
> Oh Tammy, only the Poodle could think of cane jumping.
>
> Jenine Stanley
> jeninems at wowway.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Tami Kinney
> Sent: Friday, June 17, 2011 3:46 PM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] conventions and dogs
>
> Jenine,
>
> That cane jumping must have come from Molly's poodle side.  Mitzi did
> that, too, and a couple of times we ended up jumping over a cane
> together.  /lol/  Wild and crazy fun.  Or something.
>
> On Fri, 2011-06-17 at 11:32 -0400, Jenine Stanley wrote:
>> Julie,
>>
>> I think knowing yourself and your dog is crucial to making any decisions
>> about a vacation or trip. If you've never traveled before, this is your
>> first dog or you just haven't been on an extended trip with this
> particular
>> dog, it's good to take stock of a few facts when deciding what to do and
> how
>> to handle convention.
>>
>> First, think about whether your dog does well in crowds. The difference
>> between an average crowd, say at the mall during the holidays, and a
>> convention of blind people in a crowd, is that the sighted people will
>> generally see your dog, make eye contact and move out of the way. This is
>> becoming less and less so though as people get involved with their phones
>> and such and aren't looking at anything but the screen as they walk. I was
>> in the mall last weekend and was nearly run over a number of times  by
>> people who apologized and said they were looking at their phones and
> didn't
>> see us. Scary.
>>
>> Canes in large numbers can be very daunting to some dogs and can really
> wear
>> your dog down after a few days. I know most people who use canes try to be
>> careful if they hear a dog but letting them know you do have a dog around
>> them is probably more helpful than not.
>>
>> My first NFB national convention was interesting in that Molly made a
> sport
>> out of jumping over canes. Granted, with her long legs, she could usually
>> step over many of them, but occasionally she did become air born.
>>
>> Does your dog relieve more when stressed? Remember that hotels are often
>> drier than your home or workplace so offer water often and relief breaks
>> more often.
>>
>> Also, I'm fairly sure that the NFB policy prohibits you from leaving your
>> dog unattended in your room so keep that in mind.
>>
>> I'd look over the convention schedule and see what you really want to do
>> while there. If there are things you just don't want to miss, and having
>> your dog working during that entire schedule could be brutal, then maybe
>> leaving him or her at home is best.
>>
>> I've only a few of the many things I consider. I actually have no choice.
>> <grin> Luckily my dogs have generally handled convention well, save for
>> Molly's dog issues, but then again, when matching me, that was taken into
>> consideration, even before I worked for the school.
>>
>> That doesn't mean the first day or so isn't rough, what with the dog
>> realizing it's at another convention with all of it's canine buds and
> people
>> to sniff. <grin>
>> Jenine Stanley
>> jeninems at wowway.com
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
>> Of Julie J.
>> Sent: Friday, June 17, 2011 10:49 AM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: [nagdu] conventions and dogs
>>
>> 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
>>
>>
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-- 
Julie McG
 Lindbergh High School class of 2009, participating member in Opera
Theater's Artist in Training Program, and proud graduate of Guiding
Eyes for the Blind

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
life."
John 3:16