[nagdu] Introduction and Questions

Sun Jan 29 18:24:13 UTC 2012

Melissa,

Hey, welcome. I'm really enjoying your questions and all the answers and 
discussions. Since I'm running behind, everyone else has gotten to what 
I would add, so I can just read and enjoy. /smile/

I'm Tami (Tammy, in case you're using JAWS), and I live in Oregon, where 
I am working my 5.5 year old owner-trained poodle guide Mitzi.

She is quite a character, and a very wonderful one. If you like that 
sort of thing in a guide. I have worked a lot with Arabian horses, so I 
am used to a life of excitement and weirdness because it is always fun. 
/lol/ My poodle guide definitely provides my travels with that same 
flavor. /lol/ As she has settled into her prime guiding years, she's not 
so consistently wildly exciting, which is nice. But she is very alert 
and very much a thinking guide, which is great for me because I can just 
go along daydreaming. The flip side is that she's more excitable than 
people are used to in a guide dog, more interactive and busy-seeming. 
Very fast, also. She likes to get out and go and just zip and whip 
around obstacles high and low, while I dance the dance with her... It's 
a great way of moving, but tends to blow the stereotypes all to pieces. 
So then if people manage to catch up with us, they will comment upon 
their concerns at some length. /lol/ Poodle and doodle guides are lately 
a more familiar sight about. So I am hoping that the sight of some blind 
person flying down the street with a dog in harness that everyone knows 
is not a guide dog because they only use lab and shepherds for that will 
not create such a stir. /lol/

Well, here, so near the Boring campus of Guide Dogs for the Blind, 
everybody knows they only use labs for that and quite a few other 
things, as well. I'm not sure whether or not GDB knows any of it, but 
everybody else most surely does know! /lol/

So I do get to hear many interesting things about "real" guide dogs that 
They use for that and so on. Often in the form of helpful commentary on 
how my poodle guide does not measure up. Took some getting used to, but 
now I just think it's funny. Being around poodles seems to have the 
effect of encouraging the poodle's human to think everything is 
incredibly funny. /grin/

Tami

On 01/28/2012 09:32 PM, melissa padron wrote:
> I absolutely love poodles. I have two poodles of my own and I would absolutely love a poodle guide dog! They are such characters...!
>
> Melissa
>
>
> ________________________________
>   From: Larry D. Keeler<lkeeler at comcast.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2012 11:26 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Introduction and Questions
>
> Mellissa, I decided to get a guide dog mostly just because I like dogs! Especially poodle breeds.  I never gave up my cane work but I mostly find that I can move a lot faster and bump into fewer objects.  But, I do belive the firsrt and most important thing is that you must like dogs!  Well, secondarily, that the dog shouldn't be your only means of getting aroubnd. Some folks may not aggree with me but many do.  For instance, if its really inconveniant to take your dog with you, you can easily slip backto the cane!
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "melissa padron"<fuzzylucky2021 at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2012 6:13 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Introduction and Questions
>
>
> Thanks Julie!
>
> That's an interesting way to decide on getting a guide dog... I'm actually curious about it as well.
>
> I truly understand the advantages. I've heard other guide dog users at my college say that it's a lot faster than traveling with a cane. Also, I have two pet dogs (a toy and a miniature poodle) so I understand the care and maintenance involved. It would just be a couple times larger than what I'm use to! Lol.
>
> When I was younger I always thought that completely blind people used canes and guide dogs and read Braille. And here I am using a cane, considering a guide dog, and teaching myself Braille! I believe it's lack of education of "blindness professionals." A majority of them are sighted and have no type of visual impairment so they really wouldn't understand what would help a person with some vision.
>
> Melissa
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Julie J.<julielj at neb.rr.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2012 9:03 AM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Introduction and Questions
>
> Melissa,
>
> Welcome! It's really good to have you here! I'm Julie, one of the moderators. I'm working with Monty my lab and Boxer mix guide. I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability and experience.
>
> 1. What made me decide to work with a guide dog?
> Lots of things, but I think the main thing was curiosity. Weird, I know. I had heard a lot of claims about how fabulous working with a guide was and how it would make me more confident and an a better traveler and on and on and on. I wanted to find out for myself.
>
> 2. Advantages and disadvantages.   A lot of the things people said that a guide could do did turn out to be true for me. Snow travel is much easier with a dog. Overhanging tree branches are easier to avoid with a dog. A dog can find things with a simple request, like an empty seat, a door outside, an elevator etc. They also remember places you've been before and make suggestions based on past experience. I move a bit faster with a dog outdoors, inside it's about the same as with a cane.
>
> Disadvantages for me are that sometimes I'm not aware of things in my environment because the dog takes me right past, whereas with a cane I would have probably contacted it. There's more cleaning of the house too. The bits of dog hair that escape the grooming session and the mud they drag in on their feet in the spring. Depending on the particular dog you may need to make sure you don't leave food within reach or a trashcan without a lid. And of course there's that whole picking up poop thing. It's not that big of a deal, but I think if I'm to be really brutally honest, I'd really rather not pick up poop. *smile*
> There are also the occasional access issues to deal with. I've only ever had one issue, which was easily corrected with a bit of explanation. Other people have varying levels of problems with being told no dog.
>
> A couple of things that are neutral for me. A dog requires a lot more daily maintenance than a cane. There's food, water, grooming, playing, and making sure the training is consistent. I've always had dogs since I was a little kid. This daily stuff is just a part of life for me. I would have pet dogs that required the same sorts of things if I didn't have a guide. So it's not really an advantage or disadvantage for me. Although I really do enjoy teaching them new things.
>
> another thing that is noteworthy with a guide dog is that you will spend more time interacting with the public.   Sometimes this is nice. If the person is someone I'd like to get to know it helps get the conversation going. Also if I'm in a waiting room or in line somewhere and small talk is socially expected the guide dog is usually an easy topic for everyone.   And the flip side to this is that there are some strange folks out there. I've met some people who were enthralled with my guide dog to the point of downright inappropriateness. There are people who know my dog's name, but not mine.   There are people who ask after my dog, but never ask how my day is going.
>
> 3. level of vision and a guide.
> I've never attended a guide dog program so I don't have any direct knowledge of how this is a factor in the determination of suitability. I know that for a long time that guide dogs were perceived as appropriate for only totally blind people. I think this is unfortunate. I view it the same as not teaching Braille to people with some remaining vision. It goes back to the concept that the more vision a person has the better off they are. I don't think this is so. I believe that knowledge and attitude are better determinants of success than physical ability to see.   I think there is a social shift to this way of thinking, but it's a slow process.
>
> Whew! That got long! I hope you find something useful in there. And again welcome!
> Julie
>
>
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