[nagdu] getting along with other guide dogs

[d m gina]

Hi there,
Do you get to see those who are training on the SanRafael campus in your area?
Is this how you meet up with the guide dogs and owners?
I would have loved it if we had found each other in a situation like that.
Don't think we would be talking dogs though giggle.
Other topics would come to mind.
Original message:
> Julie,

> I had a hard time figuring that one out, too. What I end up doing grew
> out of my work with her to convince her she did not need to communicate
> vocally with every other guide dog she met. So I ended up doing a lot of
> hanging around the outskirts of where other guide dogs might be working
> and letting her watch them while working with her on quiet, then slowly
> decreasing the distance until she could manage to keep her big fat mouth
> shut when she was supposed to.

> Since I also orient to a new place and group or groups by walking the
> circumference to get a feel for the space and the sounds and all, we're
> doing double duty. So we've kept doing that, although Mitzi is cool with
> other guide or service dogs we meet in stores and on the sidewalks
> without any planning. /smile/ In those cases, of course, we ignore them
> as they ignore us, unless both humans want to chat or something or we
> end up knowing each other.

> So, then, by the time I'm starting to interact with the people,
> including the other guide dog users, Mitzi has had a chance to size
> things up, too. I can get an idea of her attitude towards another guide
> from her body language, but it's really subtle. Some she ignores so I
> don't know they are there; for others, she might stiffen a bit and show
> some hesitancy, so I can kinda then listen for sound cues and note there
> is another guide dog team other. If that team is minding its own
> business, we just mind ours while giving a bit of extra space going
> around. If the handler is someone I want to speak to or am being
> introduced to, I just let Mitzi lag behind me a bit, or even do "behind
> me." I let the other person decide whether we mention the dogs or not.
> Some do, some are rigorous about the dog's being a working tool in
> harness. So I go with what they are comfortable with. And if Mitzi is
> doing her lag, I don't attempt to introduce. Generally, the other person
> will not offer that, either, and the dog will not be a greeter, so we're
> all good.

> If Mitzi does her prance to let me know she sees another guide, then
> probably the other handler and I will greet each other because their dog
> has let them know there is another guide dog team on the approach.
> Again, I let them set the tone for how we interact with each other's
> dogs and how our dogs interact. Almost always they are friendly and
> their dogs are, too. I do watch Mitzi because she may get too play
> bouncy and do a little vocalization, which is too much! But when she
> does forget herself and let it out, the other handler and dog will be
> fine once they get over being startled, observing that Mitzi is friendly
> and yada yada.

> For the most part, that is pretty much our pattern. I listen to Mitzi
> and also follow the other handler's lead, because I can pick up cues
> about their guide and their attitudes about guide dogs, especially
> theirs and mine, that way. Also, I can pay attention to my high strung
> critter to make sure her excitement or startlement or whatever doesn't
> get the better of her. She's old enough now that it's not a huge worry,
> but I hear from users of older poodle guides that that startle reflex,
> sometimes accompanied by a quick vocalization, kind of stays there, just
> not as much. Yay! Not! /lol/ It's a small price to pay for the benefits
> of all that high alert poodle energy, but it's just embarrassing because
> everybody knows guide dogs don't do that! /lol/

> If I hear iffy vocal sounds from another guide dog team as my notice
> that they are approaching, then I get more high alert and also listen to
> Mitzi's body language and tension. As well, I listen to the other
> handler's communications with the talking dog. If I don't like what I
> hear, then I follow Mitzi around another way or on a course that gives
> the other team a wide berth. Not sure what I would do if some meeter
> greeter type were to bustle up at that point to introduce us guide dog
> users to each other. /lol/ I've known some pretty dedicated compulsive
> introducers in my time, I guess, so I just popped one into my imaginary
> scenario because you never know when they're going to pop up and make
> sure you are introduced to someone! I think it's cool, really, but not
> always as wanted as they seem to assume. "Oh, I know you! You hate me at
> work! I avoid you at work because I don't care about you and don't have
> time for your snippy comments because you hate me. How lovely to see you
> here!" /lol/

> Anyway, if I have a social need to interact with the growly team that I
> and my dog both wish to avoid, then... Heavens! I am not known for
> thinking on my feet in socially awkward situations... Which means I
> would be the distraction between the two dogs because I would be sure to
> say something completely socially inept and trip over my feet or
> something. If anyone nearby is holding a cup of coffee, I can be counted
> on to bump them just right so that the coffee flies onto the new suit of
> the person with whom they have a job interview the next day. It's a
> talent! /lol/

> Tami

> On 04/26/2012 04:05 PM, Julie J. wrote:
>> I don't encounter other guide dogs very often, maybe 2 or 3 times a
>> year depending on how much I travel to attend blindness events.   But
>> it is extremely rare that I allow Monty to visit with other guide or
>> service dogs.   I have never allowed this when he is working.  I have
>> let him visit with one guide out of harness in my home.  I think if I
>> were at a convention with other dogs who wanted to work out a play
>> date type of thing I'd be very open to that, it just hasn't happened.

>> Anyway I was wondering how others approach this issue.  Do you like
>> for your guide to meet and greet the other working dogs?  Do you do
>> this in harness?  Are there circumstances that help you decide this on
>> a case by case basis?   Does it make a difference to you whether or
>> not the dogs get along or like each other?

>> The recent messages have peaked my curiosity.

>> Julie


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