[nagdu] How would you respond?

[Tami Kinney]

Steve,

Ugh! I am so sorry for both the dog and the handler. I've been surprised 
to learn how many guide dog users around here have PTSD from having 
their guides attacked, even if it was a previous guide and the guide 
lived and was able to be rehabbed to continue working. The handlers 
still have nightmares. /shudder/

What would I do if I were the handler? And if I were in a formal 
blindness training program, which I can presume I would need for future 
life? Sheesh! Well, this is off the top of my head, since I'm not in the 
situation.

1. Ensure that the dog's injuries are being treated to ensure the best 
hope of success in achieving full physical recovery. I assume your 
friend's son is doing this and can hopefully have the finances or 
financial assistance for it.
2. Give the dog a break, assuming it is physically healthy enough to 
work. Spend time with it in play and relaxation, then slowly start out 
on long leash walks in safe environments, praising and reviewing guide 
dog behaviors in a light way. Mostly, though just a relaxed enjoyable 
sniff 'n stroll in the great wide world. How this particular handler is 
supposed to find time for that with his own training, I don't know. But 
something like that to help the dog and handler both recover 
psychologically would, I think, go a long way in giving the dog a better 
chance of returning to work without anxiety issues... Maybe
3. Treat the anxiety medically or with a good herbal calming agent like 
Rescue Remedy. That way, the chemical components of stress and anxiety 
are kept under control, so that the dog can mentally deal with is fears 
in a rational way.
4. Watch the dog when it resumes work. Try to work with the anxiety to 
see if it can be reduced and eliminated, but...

If the dog is too stressed and anxious to work and that is not resolving 
over time... There's only one thing to do then, I'm afraid. Well, you 
know about that with Misha. Sigh. It comes down to your safety and the 
health and well-being of the dog.

Oh, and if at all possible, I would go all out getting recourse from the 
attacking dog's owner. If the student's state has a strong guide dog 
protection law, then there is some hope he (she?) can use that to see 
that the owner experiences real consequences for not keeping his dog 
under control. Also, wouldn't the owner be liable for the guide dog's 
vet expenses? And some of the costs to the handler in addressing the 
medical issues and being without a guide dog and having to go get 
another, if that is what he chooses?

Anyway, I don't know what this other handler's options are or what 
access to recourse he has, but... Since you asked what *I* would do... 
That's my general plan in case it happens to us. /shudder/

I wish the best for both of them!

Tami

On 04/23/2012 03:51 PM, Steven Johnson wrote:
> Another what would you do question, or maybe, how would you respond
> scenarios for you all to ponder.  Many times, we hear of guides and other
> service dogs being attacked by other stray or uncontrolled dogs, rendering
> the attacked dog unable to continue in their line of work.  Today, I learned
> from a colleague at work, that her son's good friend, who is blind and
> attending a formal blind training program, had his dog viciously attacked by
> another dog.  The injuries were severe, the attacked was unprovoked and the
> trainers had to break up the fight, but the guide that was attacked, is now
> showing very serious signs of fear and anxiety.
>
> What would you do if you were the handler?
>
> Steve
>
> 2.
>
>
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