[nagdu] The Breed or the Dog

Darla Rogers djrogers0628 at gmail.com
Fri Sep 20 03:47:51 UTC 2013


	Any dog a consumer isn't happy with, pretty darn soon, I doubt can
be a good match--been there done that--won't do it again.
Darla


-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Star Gazer
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2013 1:32 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] The Breed or the Dog

Very likely, the woman you mention had a truly horrible experience with a
man.  Think sexual abuse, rape, forced prostitution, that sort of thing.

My problem with the mentality of "the dog you need" v. "the one you want" is
that at it's very easy for the schools to say "This is the dog you need"
when the consumer clearly is not happy with the school's selection. 
 


-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Raven Tolliver
Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2013 3:33 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] The Breed or the Dog

Tracy,
I see your point. Some people are not suited to handle certain breeds, such
as German shepherds, dobies, or poodles. However, I think it is perfectly
fine to get what you need as well as what you want in a dog.
If a person has a strong preference, they should ask for it. If the program
doesn't have what the prospective student is looking for, then perhaps the
student should give some leeway if they decide not to look at another
program.
 I do think preference should be strongly considered though, because certain
people will not bond correctly to their dog if the dog turns out to be
something very different from what they wanted and expected.
For instance, I know of a woman who had her dog for at least a year and a
half; I'm not sure if they're still together. Anyhow, she had requested a
female dog and was very emphatic about it. The school decided a male dog
best suited her. I'm not sure why the sex of her dog was a big deal, but she
ended up disliking her dog. I really don't think she loved him. She would
leave him behind or hand him off to another person on a regular basis. The
dog was often seen with other individuals, far more than it was ever seen
with her. She had a designated friend who would feed, groom, play with, and
pick up behind her dog. It was almost like the dog belonged to her friend.
I say, if you can get the best of both worlds, shoot for that first.
Then, start narrowing things down if you're having trouble finding a guide
that meets your desires. I would never encourage someone to shoot for less
than what they wanted out of a guide unless they had a number of
surrealistic or unlikely expectations, or the wrong motives for wanting a
certain type of dog, such as for beauty or protection.
But personally, I am not going to settle for something less than, just
because there's a possibility I won't get what I want. To flip this, I will
definitely not settle for a dog that possesses characteristics or behaviors
that I find undesirable, such as certain quirks or behaviors. For instance,
I do not want a dog that could be described as extremely playful, or could
play for hours so to speak. That is reasonable on my part. That would be
cause for a lot of frustration from my and the dog's perspectives, and
things in my home would likely end up destroyed because I was not meeting
the dog's needs.
It's hard to determine what is a reasonable extent of selectiveness.
But I would be a hypocrite if I said I would discourage a guide dog handler
or potential guide dog handler from being choosy. Frankly, it is the
schools' job to analyze the student's needs, then give out a dog that suits
the student. If the student doesn't like the dog, or if the dog has
qualities that they do not want in a dog, they are more than free to say so.
I don't know why people don't speak up.



On 9/18/13, Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net> wrote:
> Sometimes, what you want is not what you need.  Plenty of people want 
> a shepherd, but aren't really cut out to deal with one, for example.
> It's nice to get what you want, but it's more important that it suit 
> your needs.
>
> "You can't always get what you want, but you find sometimes you get 
> what you need."
> Tracy
>> Nicole,
>> I think a service dog user has just as much a right to be picky about 
>> their working dog as any other person would be about selecting their 
>> pet dog. Whether people like it or not, certain breeds tend to have 
>> certain mannerisms and characteristics that are desirable to some, 
>> acceptable to others, and undesirable for certain people. Now, there 
>> are always exceptions to the rule, and dog personalities that don't 
>> match the stereotypes. However, if I have temperament and personality 
>> requirements for a dog, and there are particular breeds that tend to 
>> not match up with those standards, then I will not be likely to 
>> choose those breeds. I am not budging on what I am willing to handle 
>> and deal with because for the next one to ten years, or even beyond, 
>> I have to live with that dog when it's in and out of harness.
>> There are thousands of working-type dogs out there, and more than a 
>> dozen schools. And if I had and wanted to put forth all the time, 
>> energy, effort, and money, I could personally search for, choose, and 
>> train or have trained, the breed I desire.
>> There is absolutely nothing wrong with being picky. I was picky my 
>> first go round, and I got exactly what I asked for. After being 
>> exposed to so many goldens throughout my life, I had no doubt in my 
>> mind that this was the breed of dog that matched me perfectly. When I 
>> found that GEB had the dog for me, and I finally met him, I was more 
>> than pleased. I saw the way the other labs acted in class on numerous 
>> occasions, and was grateful that I was not the person going home with 
>> those dogs. While the dogs were in people's faces, being forceful, 
>> licking them, jumping up in their laps, vocalizing frequently, 
>> tearing stuff up, pulling hard and speeding down stairs, I had this 
>> low energy, calm, laid-back, docile creature. Maybe there was a 
>> second choice dog in the kennels for me that was a low energy, gentle 
>> labrador, but I'll never know. But I believe that the next time I 
>> apply for a guide, there will be another golden waiting for me in a 
>> kennel somewhere.
>>
>>
>> On 9/18/13, Nicole Torcolini <ntorcolini at wavecable.com> wrote:
>>> All the discussion about different breeds has caused me to think 
>>> about something. Often, we know what it is that we want in a dog. We 
>>> then try to generalize that to a specific breed or set of breeds, 
>>> saying I will take these breeds and I won't take those breeds.
>>> However, I think that, sometimes, we get so caught up in the whole 
>>> breed thing, that we miss the whole point. When I went to GDB in 
>>> 2007, I told them my breed, color, and gender preferences, but I 
>>> also told them that, if they found a dog that they thought was for 
>>> me, even if it was the lowest on my list, that I would take it 
>>> because, for me, I would rather get a dog that was right for me and 
>>> not quite the breed that I wanted than get a dog that was the breed 
>>> I wanted but not for me.
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Raven
>>
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--
Raven

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