[nagdu] more Questions About accessing

Sun Sep 4 20:52:13 UTC 2011

Well, Mitzi is jet black, but the rest of her litter was red. The
breeder has a black throwback in every litter pretty much, unless she's
breeding for a black litter, in which case a single red or apricot will
pop out. Come to think of it, she has donated kin of Mitzi's to a west
coast guide dog program and then donated some breeding stock not long
after I was starting to work Mitzi... Don't know how much interchange
there would be with Pilot, but who knows? 

Funny thing about poodles. In Europe, they're respected for their
guarding, police dog abilities and temperaments... Here, everybody
thinks the same look that would knock them flat from a dobie or GSD is
just so adorable coming from Mitzi. Poor kid! She's learned somehow to
use that public reaction to convince people to respect the distance she
sets for them. But it's only people who know more about poodles and who
have encountered a bad-tempered specimen who read her back off look as
just that. They back way off, too! I've only ever encountered
bad-tempered neurotic toy poodles, but I can see how a Mitzi size in
guarding mode would be something you didn't want to have to face again.
Well, I can see that in dobies, and I've only met great ones of those.
Or GSDs... That focus and intensity in The Look, even when it's just in
playing ball, is pretty intimidating sometimes. Mitzi's dark, exotic
poodle eyes have the same intensity, but I will admit that the GSD Look
is more likely to knock you flat when it's directed at you. I once got
The Look from a dobie guide... Yup. I was suddenly all about minding my
manners. I think that the shape and slope of the poodle eye doesn't
carry that same intimidation all on its own. Unless you know The Truth
about Poodles. I've been wondering about natural dobies, without the
police dog look from cropped tails and conical ears... But then I
remember that Rox describes Laveau as having The Look and knocking
people flat, so that's why I think it's the shape of the poodle eye. Or
the curls? Who knows, I just like wondering. /smile/

Still, after all the reaching hands and coos and giggles and just
general swirl of people overwhelmed by the Adorable One, it's both
refreshing and a little surprising when somebody leaps back with their
hands raised and says, "Whoa! Is that a *poodle*??? Thos things are
*dangerous*." Well, mine isn't and I don't want her to be and have made
sure to redirect those guarding, protective instincts all through the
slow road to psychosocial maturity, just to be sure. I've only seen bits
of them, and once there were trespassers and I thought the large, fierce
black dog that flew past me to bark quite fearsomely over the porch
railing must have eaten my sweet small poodle on its way by... She
didn't take after the trespassers who must have been right under the
bark, but they pretty much teleported out of the yard over the fence
with only a few scuffs and recognizable foot sounds as they spun out on
the gravel there. /lol/ i was glad Mitzi didn't pursue and that she
calmed down when I asked her to settle... Once I figured out the she was
the ferocious beast and had not been eaten by it. Those curls standing
on end were quite something! /lol/

Anyway, I've been pretty amused over the past two or three years to
notice how she uses her cute to keep intrusive strangers right where she
wants them, since The Look doesn't always get the results she's looking
for. We still get drive by petters and an over eager child every now and
then. But almost never now, since people seem to stand at the
Mitzi-described perimeter with their hands where they belong. I really
wonder how she does it. All I can tell is that somehow she's using her
funny fan tail and dance and long nose, complete with poodle grin to
direct the humans without their knowing it while they are just overcome
by all that adorability. Ya know, if I had that myself, I would have had
a much more prosperous and entertaining life, I'm just sure of it.
Especially if I had legs like that. /lol/ Ah, well. I got almost as many
brains as she had, so I've had to make those work for me. She does that,
too... Okay, she's the beauty of the outfit and the brains, too. I'm
sure that somehow this constant awareness gives me dignity,
though. /grin/

Tami

On Sat, 2011-09-03 at 20:12 -0400, Larry D. Keeler wrote: 
> What color is Mitsy?  She must be related to Holly, she is about as 
> intimidating as a bunny but more cute!
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tami Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
> To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2011 6:00 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] more Questions About accessing
> 
> 
> > You know you have a poodle guide when you're dealing with an access
> > denial on one side and an entire family including children, grandma and
> > the babe in arms cooing over your dog on the other. Okay, I exaggerated
> > the size of the family, no grandma. But it really did happen.
> > Apparently, Mitzi poodle does not share Monty's powers of intimidation
> > for some reason. /lol/
> >
> > Oh, how did I get myself out of that one? I giggled, of course! Then I
> > really got to laughing uncontrollably and nearly fell over my dog so
> > everybody scattered out of the way, and she whipped into gear and took
> > me on my way, while I just kept on laughing. I mean, honestly, what is a
> > person *supposed* to do at a time like that?
> >
> > On Sat, 2011-09-03 at 13:41 -0400, Larry D. Keeler wrote:
> >> Try saying that with poodles!  I've also heard that the dog will scare 
> >> other
> >> customers.
> >> ----- Original Message ----- 
> >> From: "Cindy Ray" <cindyray at gmail.com>
> >> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> >> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> >> Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2011 10:56 AM
> >> Subject: Re: [nagdu] more Questions About accessing
> >>
> >>
> >> > Taxi drivers usually say that the dog cannot ride in their car or they 
> >> > say
> >> > they are allergic to the dogs. Ethnic restaurants usually say dogs are 
> >> > not
> >> > allowed in the restaurant. Other places say this from time to time as
> >> > well.
> >> >
> >> > On Sep 3, 2011, at 9:31 AM, Tatyana wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Dear listers,
> >> >> I would like to ask you some   questions about accessing public places 
> >> >> .
> >> >> When taxi drivers don't want your dog to get into a car, what excuse 
> >> >> do
> >> >> they
> >> >> use?
> >> >> What do ethnic restaurants greeters say when they don't let you in?
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> >
> >> >
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