[nagdu] to Tatyana

Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC) REBECCA.PICKRELL at tasc.com
Tue Sep 6 14:07:06 UTC 2011 

I'd be interested to know if some of the arguments re hair and occationalmesses break down depending on who needs to clean it up. 
Dog hair does take time to clean. If nothing else, it requires more vacuming which takes time to do. My daughter is a puzzle freak, and while I try to get her to clean up, we both occationally miss a puzzle piece.  This means that the puzzle becomes unusable if th epiece gets sucked into the vacum. Ditto for legos, especially when the little one learns to build some very creative things that really do need the one piece that is no longer there.  Having things where I don't *have* to vacum every couple days really helps. 
  It requires getting down by the baseboards and wiping. 
An occational mess is fine if you don't have human messes to attend to.  My day started at 4 this morning when my daughter woke up telling me she'd peed her bed. I had to clean her, get new clothes on and remake her bed so she could sleep.  I had to do all this with patience and love.  Then I went back to bed to try to get a bit more sleep. An "occational mess" by a nonhuman member of the family is more then I can deal with right now. 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lyn Gwizdak
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2011 12:13 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] to Tatyana

Hi Dan,
LOL!! I sure do see advantages to having a guide dog!  Tatyana was trying to 
decide about a dog and she had concerns about dog hair and stuff.  These 
things about dogs are some of the things that cause a team to not work out. 
Some people have never owned a dog or other animals and have no idea of the 
realities of animal ownership.  Some seem to think a guide dog is a furry 
cane that you just throw in a corner when not being worked.  I've been 
around guide dog users since 1970 and I've seen alot in the variety of guide 
dog users or former guide dog users.

I think that if a person can't live with the hair or occasional mess from a 
dog, then guide dogs may not be right for them.  To some of these people, 
this downside may outweigh the positives that a guide dog brings us. 
Sometimes these downsides become minor when the person sees the upside of 
dog ownership and what the dog gives in return.

Advantages to having a dog:  Companionship and LOVE!  Plus a stress reduced 
way to travel safely.

I'm someone who was raised with animals in the house all my life.  We didn't 
have dogs because my parents both worked and didn't want the responsibility 
that goes with dog ownership.  We had cats, birds, fish, guinea pigs.  We 
learned responsibility towards the animals at a young age.  With the 
pleasure animals brought us, we had to learn to care for them properly and 
we did this willingly.  It became second nature just like the care we 
provide ourselves now and the care our parents provided us when we were 
kids.

I enjoy using my dogs for pet assisted therapy to share the comfort and joy 
of animals to people who cannot have them.  I hear the smile in the people's 
voices as they pet Landon or the other animals we bring on the visits.

Having my dog, I'm never lonely for company or someone to talk to.  Landon 
certainly will not replace the company of a human, but he's there when I 
don't have human company.  He's entertaining when he plays - the way he 
makes growly noises at his bone, how he does his somersaults, and how he and 
his friend, Bernie play.  Bernie is a guide dog friend.

Right now Landon is chewing his bone and I'm taking advantage of the 
sometimes Internet connection.  My computer seems to have trouoble in 
finding my network for my wireless and hope to get it resolved soon - it's 
getting old!

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend and hope our Louisiana 
friends are OK with that tropical storm.

Lyn and Landon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dan Weiner" <dcwein at dcwein.cnc.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2011 6:50 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] to Tatyana


> Now Lynn, you have pointed out all of the   drawbacks to having a
> dog--smile.
> Do you find any advantages to using one as a means of mobility--lol.
> I know you do, just pointing out something....
>
> Just to be a friendly critic, there have been so many posts highlighting
> disadvantages that if I weren't a guide dog user I'd ask myself, "Why
> bother, it sound like such a pain?"--smile.
> I point this out because I remember asking my blind services counselor 
> about
> dogs when I was fourteen or so.
> He said nothing about any advantages and just said how "some people won't
> want dog hair in their car", and so on and so on and so on and I was left
> wondering, "they why do people get dogs if it's such a pain?"
> But I always loved dogs and really didn't believe him, I mean, I believed
> that some people don't want dog hair or whatever but I thought there must 
> be
> something good about it.--smile.
>
> And, after all is said and done I plan to have a guide dog for the ret of 
> my
> life, barring situations in life that might make it more difficult such as
> health concerns or the very slight or non-existent chance that I'd live
> somewhere where dogs aren't welcome such as...say...Saudi Arabia.
>
>
> This does not seem to be something that will happen to me or that I will
> ever do, live in Saudi Arabia, for example--smile
>
> Besides, life can be unpredictable so as someone once said, and I don't
> remember who it was, "never say never"--smile
>
> And, despite all the panegyrics about cane use and how you can get around
> well with a cane or a dog (obviously, as there are people who use
> both--smile)  I am a better traveler with a dog and enjoy it more.
> I have met some great cane users, people who I think should be totally 
> happy
> with their canes, who still find using a dog to be wonderful.
>
> Just a few random thoughts which probably have made this discussion more
> confusing not less confusing--smile
>
>
>
> Dan the man and his four-legged buddy, Carter
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Lyn Gwizdak
> Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2011 6:44 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] to Tatyana
>
> Tatyana,
> Try to spend time with guide dog users and see how it is for them.  A 
> guide
> dog isn't for everyone and they are perfectly comfortable in getting 
> around
> with a cane.
>
> A guide dog is a DOG in that it is a living animal that has needs and
> feelings.  They are more care than a cat.  A dog needs to eat, poops and
> pees - the poop must be picked up and thrown away.  They can get sick -
> vomit and diahrrea.  They can smell bad from being dirty or due to
> infections.  They shed hair all over the place.  WE are all taught proper
> dog care at the guide dog schools.  Properly groomed and cared for dogs
> rarely smell bad or shed lots of hair all over.
>
> Some people, like us guide dog users, put up with or don't mind what it
> takes to take good care of a dog.  We don't mind dog hair on our clothes 
> or
> in our houses.  We enjoy living with house animals.  Other people do not
> like these things and don't care to take on the responsibilities in dog or
> other animal care.  And this is valid.
>
> While you take the time to determine if a guide dog is for you, ask 
> anything
> you want of us - that's how you gain information with which to make a 
> sound
> decision for yourself.  Like I said, spend time with guide dog users as 
> much
> as you can and go places with them.  this will give you a realistic view 
> as
> to what it means to have a guide dog.
>
> BTW, your English is great for someone like you. You're a brave person to
> leave a coountry that is familiar and move to another one with a totally
> different culture and language.   English is a very hard language to learn
> with all it's crazy rules, words that sound alike but you spell them
> different depending on how you use the word.  My neice knows some Russian
> from when she lived in Ukraine while in the Peace Corps.  Your Cyrilic
> alphabet differs from the one we use for English and other languages.  Is
> Russian Braille different from American Braille - you know, the dot
> formations?
>
> Anyway, welcome to the list and hope you come to the decision that is best
> for you.  Using the dog or cane is a personal decision and you are the one
> best to make it.  Many of us also use the cane - it is required for 
> getting
> a dog.  You need good mobility skills to learn how to work with a dog.
>
> I am Lyn and I've worked guide dogs sinse 1973.  I am on my eighth dog. 
> He
> is Landon, a red Lab/Golden cross from The Seeing Eye.  We live in San
> Diego, CA and do pet assisted therapy for work.
>
> Lyn and Landon
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tatyana" <tagriru at gmail.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, September 02, 2011 12:56 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] to Tatyana
>
>
>> Hello Marilyn,
>> I don't know whether  I like dogs or not, I don't have one to know. I
>> don't like cats. I had a small dog when I was a child, someone killed our
>> dog and for many years I felt that was the only doggy love in my life. 
>> I'm
>
>> not an advanced cane user. I thought with a dog I could do trips from my
>> town to D.C. and use subway and go any place I never went before. But an
>> improving my   mobility skills  using a cane may be a better  option. If 
>> I
>
>> could get more training in some advanced programs of NFB or something, I
>> don't know what programs are available, but any way may be I need to pay
>> more attention to my cane using skills.With a dog, I would get a 
>> companion
>
>> and loved being. I don't care responsibilities like  cleaning a house,
>> grooming and feeding a dog, but I care smell of my clothing from a dog. I
>> don't want a dog be aggressively attacked. I don't want argue with
>> attendance in public places. And I don't want to ruin a job   of many
>> people not training a dog myself, if I don't take a dog to unfamiliar
>> locations for example, so its  working abilities may be lost. I don't 
>> work
>
>> and I need to go to unknown places not often. But from other hand it may
>> be because I don't have a dog.
>> Tatyana.
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "marilyn" <t21114 at optonline.net>
>> To: "nagdu" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, September 02, 2011 1:21 PM
>> Subject: [nagdu] to Tatyana
>>
>>
>>> Hi Tatyana,
>>> I think for everyone its a personal decision about getting a guide dog.
>>> First and foremost you must love dogs and be willing to be responsible
>>> caring for one.
>>> If you can private email me I would like to talk further to you. Also
>>> about Russia
>>> Marilyn and Anna
>>> T21114 at optonline.net
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
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>
>
>
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