[nagdu] where I don't take the dog was Lots of Questions

[Cindy Ray]

There are few places I don't take the dog. Sometimes when with my daughter, I don't take him for a ride with us if we go for a drive. I will not take him to fireworks displays, and I stopped taking him when I went to the gym. However, before I ever got a dog, my husband at the time, Chuck Hallenbeck, said to me, "Think of all the places you wouldn't think you would use the dog and then use it anyway", or words to that effect. And that is what I've always done. It is interesting the differences in people's philosophy of where to use/take the dog. When I went to the Benedictine Retreat Center I went to in spring, if they had said I couldn't bring him, I would have been more amenable to that since I now understand that this is within their right.

CL

On Aug 31, 2012, at 1:04 PM, Julie J. wrote:

> I am going to the state fair this weekend.  the temps are supposed to be in the 90's.  We are going to a tractor pull and then a concert.  Monty has been to the state fair before, but he's staying home this year.  It'll be too hot, too loud and too uncomfortable for him to lay on bleachers for hours and hours.  I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to remain semi comfortable on those bleachers all afternoon and evening.
> 
> I do not take my guides to funerals.  This has nothing to do with the place of the event, the other people or the dog.  It is because I only attend funerals of people who I was very close to and I'm in no frame of mind to be working a guide dog.  I typically go sighted guide with a cane just in case.
> 
> I have not taken any of my guides on a vacation.  I consider this on a case by case basis.  I recently traveled to Alaska.  Monty stayed home because we scheduled a lot of day trips that would have not been appropriate for him and I couldn't figure out what I'd do with him.  We went clam digging which is extremely and I mean extremely wet, cold and dirty work.  We went kayaking.  there was no place in the boat for him.  We also went fishing on a small boat.  It ended up that he could have probably fit and been comfortable on that boat, but I didn't know that before I arrived. Ditto with the bed and breakfast, it turned out that the owner would have been fine with Monty there, but she was not required  to accept service dogs because she lives on the premises and only rents a very small number of rooms.
> 
> I rarely take my guide into friends homes or cars.  The exception is if he is specifically invited or if I am attending some work related function with a coworker.
> 
> Other places I don't take Monty: car races, fireworks displays and  llama farms.
> 
> I generally run through the following before taking Monty:
> 1. Is he legally allowed in this place?  If no is he invited or will he be accepted without impoliteness?
> 2.  Will his coming along make my life easier, more convenient or improve my options?
> 3.  Will he be comfortable in this place?
> 
> Of course I don't actually go through those questions verbatim each time, but a lot more so in the beginning when I was still getting the hang of things.  And sometimes my choice to take him isn't based on the place at all.  I just left him home yesterday when my husband and I ran to the bank.  Monty had already been on a long walk in the morning and then a regular day at my office.  It was very hot and he was tired.  I felt like he needed a break.
> 
> I've noticed that my list of places and circumstances has changed over the years and with the different personalities of my dogs.  What works for Monty may be entirely different from my next dog or if Monty was someone else guide what works for that team combination would likely also be different.
> 
> JMHO
> Julie
> 
> 
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