[nagdu] Question about puppy raisers

Anon. Y.mous ay.mous at yahoo.com
Mon Jun 25 02:03:26 UTC 2012


Thanks so much for taking your time to respond.  I feel quite ridiculous 
feeling so sad by one silly stanza and I understand how petty that may 
seem!  At the same time it really was getting me down, warranted or not, and I really appreciate your patience and understanding with my silly 
meltdown.  Thank you for your words of encouragement; it 
definitely makes a difference to me knowing how special your guides are 
to you.  The responses to the poem were only positive, so it's also good for me to know that those words don't represent the views of the 
majority of guide dog users.


I did indeed give only one stanza of the poem -- in general it was a kind of fun, sarcastic poem about traveling with a guide dog and all the 
frustrations in dealing with people.  Although I am not a guide dog user myself, my sister does use a guide and as a raiser I do take the pups 
out and about.  So I understand having to listen to everyone's stories 
about their brother-in-law's cousin's son's wife's dog that looks just 
exactly like my (rather typical-looking) black lab pup! /smile/ I guess it was just hard, as a raiser, to be put in the same category as those people. 

It is pretty devastating when the handler chooses not to remain in 
contact, even though I know they are under no obligation to do so.  I've heard horror stories of overzealous handler-raiser 
relations on both ends, but I think most raisers completely respect that the dog is not theirs, even though they still do love the dog very 
much.  I am in contact with about half of the people the pups I raised 
have ended up with.  Most of the time we have one communication per 
year.  On the dogs birthday, I will write "Happy birthday to Fido!  
Please give her a birthday pat for me.  I hope you both are doing well." and I receive something like "I gave Fido a birthday hug for you.  She 
is doing well, although I am told she is getting some gray on her 
muzzle!  She had a UTI last December but that cleared up well with 
medicine.  Thanks for the birthday note."  Just those few lines once a year mean absolutely the world to the raiser.  Like you, when I get a guide dog, being able to communicate with the raiser is a priority for me.


________________________________
 From: Juanita Herrera <juanitaherrera1991 at gmail.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" <nagdu at nfbnet.org> 
Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2012 6:35 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Question about puppy raisers
 
I am new at being a guide dog handler, and my initial goal was to keep
in touch with my dog's puppy raisers because I understand the
significant role they play in a puppy's life. Therefore, I searched
for a school that would allow me to do so. I have had my guide for
almost six months now, and I still keep in touch with her raisers. I
would never even think of losing contact with them. I would think it
would be a devastating experience for them not to know of the puppy
that they've invested so much time and effort into. Is there a reason
why you don't want to continue raising?
Best,
Juanita and Anise

On 6/24/12, Anon. Y.mous <ay.mous at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am new here.  I am a long-time puppy raiser, my sister has RP and is a
> guide dog user, and I have RP so a guide might be in my future as well.
> When I first found this list about a month ago, I poked around for threads
> relating to me, and one term that I searched was "raiser."  One thing I
> found really disturbed me and has been nagging at me for the past month, so
> I figured I might as well throw it out to everyone before making any
> decisions.
>
> The "problem post" occurred in a Christmas poem posted several years ago.
> One of the stanzas was about puppy raisers:
>
> "Some man comes from nowhere with the purpose to tell, that he's 'trained'
> seven puppies as guide dogs, oh swell.  He badgers my handler, asking him
> why some blind folks get nasty when he stops them to pry.  'Don't you people
> know what we raisers give up?  We expend so much money and love raising your
> pup.  We clean up their messes all day and all night.  The least you blind
> people could do is to write.  I don't get a card or a letter to say that my
> baby is good or he's doing okay.' ... So don't let your big ego get in the
> way.  Blind handlers appreciate you just fine, okay?"
> I was in tears by the end of this (and I'm a pretty stoic person!).  I know
> it's supposed to be a kind of snarky poem about stereotypes of each "problem
> group," but this really hurt.  It's making fun of something that you just
> shouldn't make fun of, if that makes any sense.  I thought of my past
> puppies and the very real and very deep love I still have for each of them
> and how much I still miss them (even though I absolutely know they are not
> mine!).  I am hoping that their handlers don't view me this way, kind of
> minimizing the depth of the relationship I had with the dog.
>
>
> Ever since I read that, all of the enthusiasm and sparks I bring to my
> raising have been absent, and I've thus I'm toying with not raising again.
> You just can't raise a guide pup if your heart isn't in it.
>
>
> For the record, I'm definitely not somebody who thinks raising is this
> saintly selfless act -- I don't know any raisers who think that, actually.
> I get a ton out of it.  Still doesn't make turn-in any easier.
>
>
> I know each school has different policies and relationships with raisers,
> and each individual graduate does as well.  I know there are some raisers on
> this list -- does anybody have any reaction to this?  I'm not looking for
> opinions about school policies, rather thoughts of individual guide dog
> users.  My sister doesn't agree with the sentiment, but I guess I'm looking
> for opinions other than hers!
>
>
> Thanks so much in advance.  It may seem trivial to you, but this is really
> something I'm struggling with so I really appreciate any time people take to
> respond.
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