[nagdu] guide dog school problem

Fri May 16 14:49:28 UTC 2014

that's for sure. I made one coment about tres when I first got him and 
have never lived it down. Us learning to be a team didn't seem to be 
even considered relevant.
On 5/16/2014 7:20 AM, Star Gazer via nagdu wrote:
> Thank you Buddy.
> I was meaning that when you get a new dog, people expect total
> functionality. The dog is trained after all, and they view it as "better
> then cane". If you have any kinks, well shouldn't those have been resolved
> during training? If the dog needs to rest, well it's there to help you after
> all, why should it need to rest. If it has trouble handling a situation
> well, why wasn't that anticipated and resolved before?
> You don't have any of that with a baby. I was encouraged to rest and enjoy
> myself with my kids way more then I ever was with my dogs. When my kids
> cried and I didn't have a clue what they wanted, that was ok, in time I'd
> figure it out. When they barfed, maybe they didn't digest the food properly,
> it would all sort itself in time. If they wouldn't nap, adjusting to being
> in the outside world is tricky, they'll get used to it.
> The expection that I'd have it all figured out from day one wasn't there.
> That wasn't true with either of my dogs. I was expected to hit the ground
> running and to keep on running. The dogs are there to work and by God they'd
> better do it. They're there to enhance your life and they'd better not do
> anything that puts a damper on what you want to do. They'd better eat the
> food they're given and handle it properly. I think part of this may be that
> we disappear to get new dogs and our friends and families don't really know
> what goes on when we're gone.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Buddy Brannan via
> nagdu
> Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2014 7:59 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] guide dog school problem
>
> 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
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nagdu mailing list
>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nagdu:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/buddy%40brannan.nam
>> e
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/pickrellrebecca%40gmail.c
> om
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/sleigland%40bresnan.net
>