[nagdu] those comments from the public

Larry D. Keeler via nagdu nagdu at nfbnet.org
Fri May 16 22:07:30 UTC 2014


Tami, when I'm asked that question, I have a bunch of great answers! For 
exxampl, no! But I do! or maybe, I don't know, she hasn't had lunch yet! I 
can't remember who said it but I like the one someone said about there dog 
having rubber teath.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tami Jarvis via nagdu" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2014 4:37 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] those comments from the public


> Craig,
>
> I always think of that Pink Panther "does your dog bite" routine, too! And 
> it always makes me giggle, so I can never get the satisfaction of popping 
> off a snappy answer. Sigh. Then again, the one time I managed to be 
> serious and tell someone on the sidewalk all about it, someone else came 
> up and asked, so I explained it seriously, then someone else came up and 
> asked and... Then there was a small crowd, and they were explaining it to 
> each other for me, and I was thinking that dog-friendly Portland is too 
> weird a place to go about with a dog trying to be seriuos about it. Then a 
> small, timid voice at the edge of the crowd said, "Is that a pit bull?" 
> and I nearly fell on the ground laughing while folks explained it all to 
> her. Probably a good thing I was laughing too hard to answer because all I 
> could think of to say was, "Yes! The pointy-nosed, curly-coated kind, and 
> they're *really* dangerous!" /lol/
>
> Training her and working her at first so near to GDB's Boring facility, I 
> got plenty of commentary from people who knew all about guide dogs because 
> they had seen a puppy with a raiser or knew someone who knew someone who 
> knew a puppy raiser or... When the mythology of guide dogs gets 
> conglomerated with the mythology of guide dog puppies and it's all known 
> for true fact, the things people say can be pretty funny. Or pretty 
> annoying when they're pushy about it because they know so much. /lol/
>
> Tami
>
> On 05/16/2014 10:55 AM, Craig Heaps via nagdu wrote:
>> Sherry:
>>
>> That's a funny story.  I haven't had Chase quite a year yet, but I
>> realize how ignorant I was about guide dogs before I began looking into
>> getting one and went through the training.  (Not to mention the real
>> life experience of having a guide dog.)
>>
>> People often ask if I'm training Chase.  I think it's because I have a
>> little bit of useable vision and wear glasses (massively thick though
>> they may be).  I tried to come up with some clever response.  But I have
>> found it was just quicker and easier to say,  "No, I'm legally blind and
>> he's my guide."  I usually try to smile and say something like, "he does
>> a great job of keeping me safe."
>>
>> Maybe it's because I'm still kind of new at this, but I enjoy the
>> conversations, even the ones that seem a little dumb.  Occasionally I
>> get the weird question.  A rough looking guy on BART one day asked,
>> "Does he bite?".  For a moment I thbought of Peter Sellers in the Pink
>> Panther.  I said, "He's trained to do what I tell him to do." and left
>> it at that.
>>
>> I have also concluded there must be a gazillion puppy raisers out there.
>> About five times a week (small exaggeration) someone says, "My sisters
>> used to raise guide dog puppies" or "I used to raise guide dog puppies
>> for 4-H" or "We had a career change dog.  It was the best dog we ever 
>> had."
>>
>> Craig and Chase (who is still training me)
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sherry Gomes via nagdu"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, May 16, 2014 10:35 AM
>> Subject: [nagdu] those comments from the public
>>
>>
>>> On the subject of the public and their comments, good or bad. I had the
>>> strangest conversation once, strangest I ever had. I was out shopping
>>> with a
>>> friend who was a GDB puppy raiser. at the time, I was quite involved
>>> with a
>>> local puppy raising club, and she and I had decided to do some
>>> shopping at a
>>> local mall. I was with my then guide Bianca. Bianca was doing her job
>>> beautifully, when suddenly this woman I was with stuck her arm out in
>>> front
>>> of me, like you do with kids in a car when you come to an abrupt stop.
>>>
>>> "stop, there's a planter in front of you," she cried.
>>>
>>> I looked at her in bewilderment. GDB puppy raisers have lots of
>>> opportunities to interact with handlers if they both want to, and
>>> having me
>>> and my best friend around the club a lot had given all of them reasons 
>>> to
>>> see guides in action. So, I just answered that she needed to let
>>> Bianca do
>>> her job, and that Bianca would lead me around the planter. which of
>>> course
>>> she did. So, this woman then said,
>>>
>>> "You mean, you actually trust her to do that?"
>>>
>>> :Of course I do."
>>>
>>> "You even go out on the street and cross streets, even busy streets on
>>> your
>>> own? Just you and your dog?"
>>>
>>> "Of course I do," I said again, "Why else do you think I have the dog?
>>> What
>>> do you think she does?"
>>>
>>> She didn't really have an answer for that. I guess she just thought
>>> Bianca
>>> acted as a pet or emotional support animal or something, in spite of
>>> having
>>> seen her in action several times before. It sure was weird.
>>>
>>> Sherry
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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>
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