[nagdu] dog day stories

Fri Dec 13 01:38:11 UTC 2013

I received the Golden Guy in early June of last year. I was very
nervous because I had never had a dog in my life. I was ecstatic
because I was getting a golden retriever, which is exactly what I
requested.
After the meeting in the lecture hall, I fell asleep in my room while waiting.
My instructor knocked on the door, and I flew out of bed. She brought
my dog in, and he went for the crate and started fiddling with the
latch.
The biggest moment was when my instructor unclipped her leash from his
collar, and I clipped my leash in its place.
When she left, I put on some music, petted the Golden Guy and walked
around with him a bit.
We then fed and park our dogs.
Afterward, we all went out into the lobby and had our dogs sit under
our chairs. The Golden Guy was not having any of it. He would not stay
down; he kept trying to play with the dog beside us; and he just kept
standing up whenever I finally got him to sit. My instructor had to
send us up to dinner first because he just would not settle. And if I
could add in a sidenote here, that was pretty stupid. If he wasn't
settling downstairs in the lobby, what would make him settle upstairs
in the dining hall? She should have shown me how to keep him settled.
Anyway, when I got upstairs, he still would not stay down. He kept
standing up, and I thought I would never get through dinner.
That night during lecture, he still did not want to lay down, and when
he did, he had crawled under the chair and laid down behind my chair.
My instructor was pretty useless in showing me ways or giving me
advice to keep my dog settled. I mean, she gave me a lot of good
advice and instruction concerning guide work, but it would have been
nice on learning different handling and obedience techniques,
especially things other than give him a correction when he doesn't
listen, which I received from returning grads as well. Corrections do
not work in this situation because all a correction communicates is
"stop it." The correction does not tell the dog what it should be
doing instead. Also, what She could have showed me is to use luring
with treats, which works with many dogs, and perfectly for dogs who
have had previous obedience training. Too bad I didn't learn this
until I started learning about dog psychology and dog training
techniques.

On 12/12/13, Stephanie <naturelovingmom at gmail.com> wrote:
> In March this year, I went for guide dog training here in Australia. I'd
> never had a dog, not even as a pet, so this was a huge event for me.
> They bought Gypsy to me, and the first thing she did was look to the door. I
> patted her and tried to play with her, but she just kept looking at the
> door. I remember thinking "I'd patted you, I'd played with you, now what the
> hell do I do". I had no idea since I'd never had a dog. After a while, Gypsy
> started to come back to me. Now almost 12 months on, There's no going back
> for me.
> Steph
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Chantel Cuddemi <jawsgirl87 at gmail.com>
> To: "'Nagdu Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Date: Friday, December 13, 2013 8:02 am
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] dog day stories
>
>>
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> On February eighth, 2012, my trainer Bonnie at Pilot Dogs brought Motley
>> in
>> to my room, saying, this is Motley.
>>
>> She described his color, what breed he was, and his gender.
>>
>> Motley and I bonded the moment he was given to me.
>>
>> I look forward to hearing the other stories!
>>
>> Chantel and Motley.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Laurel and
>> Stockard
>> Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2013 2:56 PM
>> To: the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List
>> Subject: [nagdu] dog day stories
>>
>> Hi all,
>> I'm usually a list lurker, but a discussion we're having on another list
>> prompted me to start the same discussion here.
>>
>> I know dog day experiences are different depending on the school, your
>> situation, and the dog. I know we haven't discussed this in awhile, and I
>> would love to hear from each of you about your dog day memories. I'd love
>> to
>> hear about your memories with your current dog, or a previous dog that
>> really stood out, and I would especially like to hear those of you who've
>> attended more than one school, how were your different dog days similar
>> and
>> how were they different.
>>
>> Since this thread could get long and crowded, let's try and post all of
>> our
>> individual stories in one message each, and if we respond to people,
>> let's
>> try and respond to more than one person per message. That'll help keep
>> this
>> thread from totally cluttering the list.
>>
>> I'll start with my story.
>>
>> May 24 of 2010, I went to guide dogs for the blind's Oregon campus to
>> receive my first guide. I told GDB that I wanted a yellow dog, because I
>> can
>> see lighter colors better, and I wanted to see my dog's face. I was the
>> only
>> first timer in my class, and the youngest by 30 years. :-) After lunch,
>> they
>> brought the entire class into a room and read the names of our dogs,
>> colors
>> and breeds, for each class member. They told me that I would receive a
>> female yellow lab named Stockard. I thought, Stockard, Stockard, where
>> did
>> that name come from! It struck me as a weird name, and I didn't know if I
>> liked it at first. We went back to our rooms, and while I waited I
>> googled
>> the name Stockard and discovered the actress Stockard Channing, and I
>> figured my dog was named after her, so I though that was cool. I waited
>> for
>> ever! I was the last person to receive my dog, and while I waited, I
>> called
>> all my family and friends to update them. Finally, it was my turn. I went
>> down to the instructor's office and handed over my leash. The instructor
>> went away and came back with my dog! She handed me the leash, and I could
>> feel Stockard wiggling around on the end. :-) The first thing I felt was
>> Stockard's soft, long ears. She almost immediately gave me her belly to
>> scratch, and I rubbed it while the instructors told me her birthday,
>> parents, and described her for me. I thought she was beautiful, and it
>> only
>> took me half a second to love the name. /grins/ I took her back to my
>> room
>> and sat on the floor with her, and the rest is history.
>>
>>
>> I can't wait to hear the rest of you all's stories!
>> Laurel and Stockard
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>>
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>
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-- 
Raven