[nagdu] Getting a guide dog

Tue Feb 7 00:41:09 UTC 2012

Tami, you just wanted to look like a poodle!  RJ, at least you don't have to 
take the cane out to poop when its well below zero outside!  Oh, I forgot, 
it never does that down in the everglades!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tami Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2012 5:38 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Getting a guide dog


> RJ,
>
> Good grief! What a nightmare people are making for you! I am so sorry that 
> you have to put up with it.
>
> In short, I chose guide dog because I just love dogs and knew I would love 
> that way of travel over cane. I'm a good cane traveler, but... I prefer 
> dog. Because I love dogs, I don't see all the hassles and all as hassles. 
> /smile/ Also, my decision was made for me by physical abuse from staff at 
> the Oregon Commission for the Blind headquarters. Using a cane afterwards 
> was making the original injuries worse by leaps and bounds, and there was 
> no way I could ever hope to start getting the injuries healed while using 
> a cane to go everywhere. Sigh. Because those injuries and other events at 
> the time I was there brought my old fibromyalgia out of remission -- or 
> caused a whole new onset, as it seems to me -- I needed to deal with the 
> travel problem and became physically unable to even *think* about the 
> rigors of a guide dog program. So I got me a poodle pup and when she 
> proved to have "the right stuff," just up and trained her myself. /smile/ 
> I had tons of training experience since I was too young to remember, so I 
> knew I had the right stuff, too, but it was a pretty daunting project. I 
> still sometimes find myself going about with my super duper poodle guide 
> and feel suddenly shocked. How'd that happen? /lol/
>
> As an owner-trainer, I know all about getting, um, strong-smelling brown 
> stuff over every decision you make to do  with dogs canes socks... Oh, my! 
> Who needs it?
>
> That's my story.
>
> Your story is your story. Your decisions are your decisions. Remembering 
> that when everybody else is telling you what your story is according to 
> them and what you should do based on the life and times they have so 
> kindly invented for you is not easy. In fact, it is just plain maddening!
>
> Your reasons are yours. They reflect your reality. And most of us on the 
> list can easily remind you that you have been gathering information to 
> make the best decision for yourself for quite a while. If you wish to 
> stick with your cane at this point in your life -- or for all the rest of 
> it -- that is *no one's* choice but yours.
>
> Oh, and when you live in a place with no sidewalks and no safe place to 
> walk where traffic won't mow you down... Even with a guide dog, you will 
> need a ride. Trust me, I go nuts over being in that position every day. 
> /lol/ It's just a regular item on my to do list so that I can get it out 
> of my system and get on with my day so I can give myself better options. 
> /grin/ If people want to grump at me about my decisions about how to deal 
> with what exists in the real world, I just smile blandly and shrug. If 
> they want to go risk their lives doing what they think I should do, fine. 
> People die out there, and they have sight and everything. I don't think 
> anyone else's approval is worth dying over, and I'm sure not going to risk 
> my dog. She's got great traffic training and is a total pro. But she can't 
> do magic with a road full of crazy, inattentive non-law-abiding drivers 
> with no protection between us and them. Sooner or later... So. That's my 
> decision. If I make the wrong decision to please someone else, they won't 
> be haunted for the rest of their broken, crippled lives by what they let 
> happen to a really great dog, will they? Nope!
>
> Don't know if that attitude of mine is helpful for you, but I got it a 
> long time ago from someone very wise. If someone tells you to go play in 
> the freeway, and you do it because they want you to and you want to make 
> them happy... They don't get run over. You do. /smile/
>
> Best to you! Sooner or later, you can get to a point where you are 
> surrounded by people who respect and support you for who you are. It is 
> not always easy, though, as I also know. And it's really tough when the 
> pressure is so much and you hear the same thing over and over so often and 
> said so strongly and reinforced so heavily that you doubt yourself.
>
> You're doing well!
>
> Tami
>
> On 02/06/2012 01:38 PM, RJ Sandefur wrote:
>> I have a questions for everyone on the list. What was it that made you 
>> decide to get a guide dog? My Family and mobility instructor both tell me 
>> they do not see a need for me to have one. I live in Okeechobee Florida. 
>> We do not have any public transpertation. I practually have to be driven 
>> to church, the store etc. Others from people at church are telling me to 
>> stop making excuses, and get a dog, but when I tell them I am a cane 
>> traveler, they accuse me of not trying. I tell them it is a huge 
>> responcibility, and they tell me that it is just me making excuses. Am I 
>> making excuses? I do not have the finational means in order to care for a 
>> guide dog. I'm only just making excuses. What do you as guide dog users 
>> think? I would have to feed the dog, take it for check ups. It is an 
>> animal, and it is a responcibility. RJ
>> _______________________________________________
>> nagdu mailing list
>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>> nagdu:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/tamara.8024%40comcast.net
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/lkeeler%40comcast.net