[nagdu] When is the Connection Too Much?

[Tami Kinney]

Will and Toni,

Using the dog's name in a professional signature line does seem a bit 
unprofessional, although there may be cases where it's not a big thing, 
depending... Maybe. I'm not thinking of anything right now, but norms 
for some professions are more relaxed than for others. Every now and 
then I get a wild hair and think it would be cute to put Mitzi's name in 
my personal signature or something. Then I remember that it would be too 
easy to forget to use the right signature on business or serious 
correspondence... So I take precautions there for my own 
absent-mindedness. /smile/

If a guide dog user chooses to allow their dog free run of the house 
when company comes over, well so do a lot of dog owners. It depends on 
the dog, the handler and the guest, and I think Toni laid that out 
really well. If the dog is mugging the guests or snarfing food off the 
plates at the dinner table or even on the couch... Well, if I were the 
guest I would not be too eager to drop by again. Especially if the 
behavior was not handled by the handler. /lol/

Mitzi has the run of the house when we have guests over, so I remind her 
of "company manners" when it's a formal gathering as opposed to a drop 
by from a really good buddy. /smile/ When it's our special friends, they 
have their own preferences, which she respects, so I smile happily and 
proudly at her and figure it's all good if everyone is happy. /lol/ 
Poodles are funny beasts that way, not like dogs at all it can seem, but 
I've decided I quite like that.

So she is now teaching the puppy good company manners, with support from 
the house humans. Way cool. Daisy had learned to be really good with 
company for the last couple of years of her life, but she did need 
watching to keep her from loving them too much once she decided they 
were okay. /smile/ Mitzi is a very charming hostess, with her poodle 
grin and little dance and tail action. So it's fun watching the puppy 
learn from her and develop her own way of interacting with company.

Where I wonder about myself with my attachment to my guide is when I 
realize I talk to her all the time... Then I heard from other guide dog 
users that they just go around talking to their dogs without realizing 
it. Also, I've noticed how that affects Mitzi and her understanding of 
what her work is about and all. It really strengthens our bond and 
working unity... Also, I realized I was talking, literally, to hear the 
sound of my own voice. For echolocation. /lol/ So Ive been retraining 
myself to use the echolocation without the constant chatter. I backslide 
to the point where I annoy myself when lose more vision or if I'm really 
tired or stressed in a complicated environment. Working on it! I make a 
conscious effort to use the clicker, which does great. Even when I'm 
using the cane. /lol/ I've never really taken to the finger snap, and I 
also use that with Mitzi to remind her to mind her manners when she's 
ancy. The tongue sound escapes me, more so when I'm tired and stressed 
and likely to run off at the mouth over nothing, so... The clicker it is!

Oh, I've also noticed that I've fallen into referring to Mitzi and me as 
"we" in some contexts. We walked to the store. We went to the mall... I 
can never decide if I've gone goofy to do that or if it's natural 
because we're a partnership and are doing these things together as a 
team. I have decided not to worry about it. /grin/

Tami

On 01/10/2012 04:44 PM, Toni Whaley wrote:
> Bill,
>
> I personally think it's inappropriate to use the dog's name in a business
> letter. Regarding having the run of the house, I think that depends on the
> nature of the dog. If the dog tends to be overly friendly especially when
> food is around, I think the dog should be in a crate or on a tiedown. Onn
> the other hand, if the dog doesn't really care about company and tends to
> stay out of the way or disappears, I think it's OK. Of course, there's the
> problem that the guests themselves may be more of a problem than the dog;
> that is, getting the dog too excited. I've had dogs of both types. I've also
> tended to keep my dog out of sight on Haliween. evening, both to prevent the
> dog from getting too excited and running out the opened door and/or scaring
> some of the children.
>
> Toni
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of William Burley
> Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 7:10 PM
> To: NAGDU
> Subject: [nagdu] When is the Connection Too Much?
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> I hope everyone is well.  I had an interesting discussion today with a
> longtime guide dog user.  She brought up the fact that some handlers seem to
> take their relationships overboard with their guide dogs.
>
>
>
> Some examples she gave were:
>
>
>
> .         Including the dog's name in a professional e-mail signature
>
> .         Allowing the dog to have run of the house, even when guests are
> there
>
>
>
> She gave some others but I am drawing a blank now.  I have not experienced
> the two examples above but could see her point.  Have you guys dealt with
> someone you thought took their relationship with their guide to an unhealthy
> level?
>
>
>
> Will
>
>
>
> William Burley
>
> William.burley3 at gmail.com
>
>
>
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