[nagdu] Meetings between dogs

[Tracy Carcione]

I'm late on this, but there is a thing some people do that really bugs me, 
since you bring it up.  I'm sitting at a table with some other dog users. 
My dog is lying under my chair.  Someone else's dog has crawled across under 
the table and is lying on my feet.  Um, one dog on my feet is enough, and my 
dog gets to do it, not yours. It especially annoyed me when I was working 
Echo, who had been attacked a couple times and was quietly afraid of strange 
dogs.  And, even when I asked the other person to pull their dog back, a 
minute later, there it was again, creeping up on Echo.  It became a real 
peeve for me.
Tracy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tami Jarvis" <tami at poodlemutt.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, August 30, 2013 4:38 PM
Subject: [nagdu] Meetings between dogs


> Another etiquette question! I've changed from the focus being on the dog's 
> behavior to it being the handler's management of the dog and way of going 
> in public with the dog. What I seem to be working toward is an etiquette 
> guide aimed towards handlers, with a separate educational approach that 
> might work to help out businesses, et al.
>
> So with the focus on the handler, I'm wanting to include a "what to do 
> when..." section. You know, when your perfect, genetically-engineered dog 
> with its hundreds or thousands of hours of training has a doggy moment. 
> Some are obvious, and have been discussed recently. If your dog has an 
> accident, take responsibility. That sort of thing.
>
> Is there any kind of established protocol for random meetings with other 
> service dog handlers? I'm thinking of situations where interaction is 
> inevitable, like the bus stop or an event where you're both moving around 
> the same area. This can go really gracefully, of course, and should. The 
> handlers respect each other and each manages his/her own dog and there's 
> no big. Some people allow their dogs to greet and find it helps, but 
> others don't. If the handlers are respectful of each other, whether to 
> allow the dogs a brief greeting can be managed by asking and respecting 
> each other's wishes.
>
> Then there are those times... I've seen seven kinds of just plain rude, 
> when the dogs are doing as they should. Ultimately, it adds up to 
> disrespect, I guess.
>
> So what are some tricky situations y'all have been in or seen? How did you 
> handle them? Or how do you think they should have been handled?
>
> Also, what if you see another handler maybe struggling a little with their 
> dog and think you have something helpful to offer them in the way of 
> advice? I've had people do this for me in a really great way. I've 
> experienced and observed the really rude and not even slightly helpful 
> way. And is there some way to know when to offer to help and when 
> absolutely not? I know my own rules of thumb, but am curious what others 
> think.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Tami
>
>
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