[nagdu] guide dog school problem

[sheila via nagdu]

buddy great post. I love having a dog but when I retired my first dog It 
was like I no longer ixisted. people barely spoke to me but when Tres 
came everyone did. It was disconcerting.
On 5/15/2014 5:58 PM, Buddy Brannan via nagdu wrote:
> Far be it for me to stick up for Rebecca, I’m sure she can stick up for herself, but…
>
> To be fair, she ain’t the only one. Many’s the time (as grammatically incorrect as that may be) that I’ve seen the same comparison, although, in fact, comparing the actual guide dog to a child. I think Rebecca’s comparison is actually pretty fair, insofar as she has both given birth and gotten a first guide dog. I have not given birth, but in some ways, the adjustment to a dog, especially a first dog, has its own special set of difficulties. Sometimes the problems are the same. For instance, the friends who come by to see the cute baby (or guide dog) may become reluctant to visit or socialize (or in our cases, sometimes, let us ride in their cars) because of the cute baby or guide dog. While it’s true that this sometimes separates true friends from your casual hangers-on, it doesn’t make the problems and the adjustments any less real. I’m sure we could take the analogy further if we wanted, but there seems to be little need.
>
> Where I will agree with you is when we talk about how some people accept some behaviors from children while other behaviors are not acceptable by guide dogs; cleaning up after a guide dog is like cleaning up after the spew from a child; the whole (to my mind) nausea-inducing “I’m my doggie’s mommy/daddy” thing, and on and on. Such comparisons do not, in my mind, advance our cause any and are, again to my way of thinking, on which I am an expert, usually not accurate or appropriate. My dog is not a child in a fur coat with four legs. He is a dog, with his own mind, very different from mine, his own needs, again very different from mine, and society’s own expectations of him, again very different from the expectations of a human child. This by no means says I think guide dog handlers should be more lax, or that parents of children should be less strict. Far from it, I think some of us could stand to be less lenient on both counts.
>
> So all that to say, before you jump on a knee-jerk reaction to the comparison, please evaluate its usefulness first.
> On May 15, 2014, at 7:34 PM, Nicole Torcolini via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>> Rebecca,
>>
>> Why do you always compare guide dogs to children?
>>
>> Nicole
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On May 15, 2014, at 12:37 PM, Star Gazer via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Add to this that people will expect your dog to be a fully functional guide,
>> and you to be a fully functional handler.
>> You don't have that dynamic in play when you get a puppy.
>> I've said it before, and I'll say it now, having a new baby is easier then
>> getting your first guide dog.
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of via nagdu
>> Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2014 11:03 AM
>> To: Name, Full
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] guide dog school problem
>>
>> Well said, and very good point.
>> To me getting a new guide is like getting a new puppy, you have to take time
>> to get to know each other, how each other works and there needs. You need to
>> bond, and the dog needs to know that you are one he is to work with, and not
>> every other person who comes by. the big thing I believe is that the dog
>> needs to know that you are the boss, and not to pay attention to everyone
>> else.
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>>
>> From: "Name, Full" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> To: "Name, Full" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 7:35:41 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] guide dog school problem
>>
>> John,
>>
>> A couple of things. First, some of the things that you are telling us are
>> not making sense and are contradicting each other. What exactly has
>> happened, in order, with applications and acceptance?
>> Second, if there is a possibility that you might go to get a dog in August,
>> you really need to stop and think this over more. Yes, things that cannot be
>> avoided happen, and colleges make exceptions, but I feel that this is
>> different. You cannot miss four weeks of a class and still pass it, at least
>> not with a half way decent grade, unless it's a class where there is only
>> one class a week with a really light work load. Even if you can retake the
>> class, do you really want to have to? Retaking a class often means paying
>>
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>
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