[nagdu] welcome Mandy, tug of war, transition, and the public, mobility instructor

[Rebecca Ilniski]

Hi everyone. Mandy, welcome to the list. I hope you enjoy it here and wish you much success getting your next guide. I live in Pennsylvania with Zeb a male yellow lab from gdb. I also work at a school as a Spanish Instructor and Braille transcriber. 
Now regarding tug. That is Zeb's favorite game. When I throw the toy, he will get it and bring it back for more. He also shakes his head side to side vigorously with the toy in his mouth. 
Alea, pardon of your name if I messed it up. I'm sorry you've encountered the ignorance of people who have no idea about guide dogs. When this type of stuff happens if I'm in the mood I'll explain but I find that most of the time people don't get it and so most of the time I just say Oh ok uh-huh and keep on going. It does make you beel bad with the various comments that people can make. If they have an issue I usually give them the long-distance number to the school and if they keep it up I remind them that they weren't in class with me as my instructor and I'll continue to follow what I was taught. Other times I've just ignored them and kept on walking. In reality, if those same people woke up blind tomorrow they wouldn't leave the house anyway. I just remember that and hope those same people don't experience vision loss at some point in their lives and have to train with a guide dog. I'm sure they'd tell a different story then now wouldn't they? 
Kristin, I would definitely report that Mobility Instructor as her grabbing your arm and the dog could f have put you in danger but it's also not right. Keep us posted on what happens. 
Julie, I find that people treat me the same in between dogs when I've had to use my cane. They've asked me where my dog was and just remarked that they weren't used to seeing me without my dog. One thing that I find is that while using my cane I definitely learned about all of the obstacles that my dog took me around. It's amazing all that you find with your cane, parking meters, trash cans, poles, and who knows what else. I feel so clunky with a cane but those times made me thankful to freshen up my cane skills.  Then there's getting used to the fact that you can not have to go out early in the morning to relieve a dog and different things associated with having a dog. Of course if you are keeping your retired guide then that's different. My lifestyle with working and living in an apartment doesn't allow me to keep my guides when they retire. 


Rebecca and Zeb
email: rilniski at gmail.com
facebook: www.facebook.com/rebeccai5
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