[nagdu] Give the Dog a Break!

[GARY STEEVES]

Hi:

Personally I don't "give my dog a break since a lot of his life is a break. :) Yes, I take Bogart to work every day (which is only 3 days a week) but is out of harness a lot of that time and is lying around.Certainly I'm aware when we have a busy couple of days but I am just as aware of that for me too. I was at a confernce last week and the first day went from 8am until about 10:30pm. The next day was 8am until about 5pm. the thirday was us being invited out for  a thanksgiving dinne. (we have it earlier in Canada)  this wasn't work but our friends dog has matured a bit since the last time we were at there place house sitting in April.  now he likes to make it known that it is his house so no playing with him. Also their cat took some pleasure in stocking bogart at different times. Poor bogart was looking all over the place for that darn cat but always seem to miss where it was on it's high pirch. So for the next two days we took it pretty easy. rainy weather helped too not make any of us eager to go outside.


Obviously when bogart was recently ill I worked him minimally. No long walks after work but I think it was good for him to get me to the bus and to our house. You know how even when we are sick a bit of fresh air and focus on something is good for the soul.

I think if we are just honest with ourselves about how we feel our dogs are probably feeling just as tired. I also agree with leaving bogart home alone from time to time. Like this weekend I am gong to a fund raiser for our blind ice hockey team in a pub and I just don't think bogart would enjoy himself as much as he thinks he would so we'll leave him home.

Maybe it' smy life but I think I am fairly active but I really don'  think Bogart works that much. I actually make excuses to work him. Like I've mentioned before, after work we walk for about 40 minutes with him in harness to keep him up to par on his skills.

Gary



----- Original Message -----
From: William Burley <william.burley3 at gmail.com>
Date: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 8:04 am
Subject: [nagdu] Give the Dog a Break!
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>

> Good morning.
> 
>  
> 
> I was having a discussion with a fellow guide dog user this 
> morning at the
> bank.  We somehow talked about whether you should give your 
> guide a break
> from work every now and then.
> 
>  
> 
> The person's opinion was no as she stated she uses her guide all the
> time.even when the dog isn't feeling all that well.  She 
> said that she just
> won't work it as much.
> 
>  
> 
> My opinion is that we should give our dogs a break pretty 
> regularly.  By
> this I don't mean leave your dog four days a week or anything, 
> but I do feel
> as though the dog does need a break from work.  Their work 
> is more than a
> little stressful, even for the most experienced team.  In 
> those instances
> where the dog is ill, then I really believe you should give it a 
> break.
>  
> 
> Beyond the reasons that a dog should learn to be alone at some 
> point as well
> as de-stress, leaving the dog at home here and there will allow 
> us to keep
> our cane skills up to par.  I think people become overly 
> dependent upon
> their guide.even though this is easy, through experience.  
> But that dog is
> just like us and needs a break.
> 
>  
> 
> What are your thoughts?
> 
>  
> 
> William Burley
> 
> William.burley3 at gmail.com 
> 
>  
> 
> Facebook and Twitter:  wburley3
> 
> Skype:  William.burley69 
> 
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