[nagdu] For your information

Sat May 31 03:09:50 UTC 2014

Marsha,

	That's mostly what I thought. I have been doing some one-handed
guide work lately because I carry my lunch to a different location to eat
it, and we've been running into more dog distractions on the way since the
food has been at food trucks lately and employees are allowed to bring their
pet dogs. Anyway, my suggestion for keeping the dog focused is to keep
talking to the dog if the dog seems to be distracted. The touch command
probably won't work if you only have one hand, but you could try to think of
some other command to serve the same purpose of just regaining the attention
of your dog. Sometimes just stopping, especially without saying halt first,
is enough to get the message across. If you are still having trouble getting
the message across that something is wrong, you can try acting upset as I
have found that body language and tone of voice, even noises that are not
actual words but rather sounds that convey that I am not happy, sometimes
work better than commands. I often use the leash to keep Lexia from veering
to the left. I have not really found a solution to this while holding the
harness handle and moving. However, if she gets too far to the left, I drop
the harness handle and reposition her with just the leash. The door is
definitely a hard one. If you can find it, some doors have a button that
people who use wheelchairs use to open the door. The only problem that I
find with these is that they open the left door, and Lexia does not like it
when the door is on her side, but this not a problem that all dogs have, and
you can usually get them to go through even if they don't like it. If the
door opens inward, you can unlatch it and then use your foot to shove it
open, but this does not work with heavier doors. Sometimes, I drop the
harness handle, loop the leash over my arm, and let Lexia follow me through,
making sure that the door does not shut on her; however, if the door is on
the left, this sometimes results in her inadvertently wrapping the leash
around me as she wants to go to my right side away from the door. One way to
prevent this, particularly if the door opens inward and is on the left, is
to kind of back in and spin as you go. Sometimes, there are enough people
around that you can get someone to open the door for you. Usually, I find
that people hold it open even if I don't ask because enough people are going
in and out anyway and/or they see that I am carrying something so don't have
use of my other hand. I hope that these were helpful, and I am always glad
to help brainstorm more if needed.

Nicole and Lexia

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Marsha Drenth via
nagdu
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2014 1:11 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] For your information

hi, I'm going to respond to a couple of different messages in this one.
Kathy, yes I have a husband and a very nice support system. They are being
great. Thank you for asking, and thank you for the prayers.
Nicole, I use a normal harness. And a leash. There's no other equipment that
I use. My right hand, is used for more collections. But like whenever I need
to do something with my left hand. My right hand holds the leash. My dog
gets very distracted very easily. Especially if I am not holding onto the
lease. She can maintain some sort of calmness and attention without me
holding onto the leash. We've been working on the this for a while. Of
course, when I had a normal hand. I could use my right hand to open doors
and walk-through with my dog. Now I have to drop the handle of the harness,
and hold the door open with my left hand and get the dogs through too. It's
been a bit challenging. Just thought that someone right have some tricks and
tips.
Thank you,

Marsha drenth
email: marsha.drenth at gmail.com
Sent with my IPhone
Please note that this email communication has been sent using my iPhone. As
such, I may have used dictation and had made attempts to mitigate errors.
Please do not be hesitant to ask for clarification as necessary. 

> On May 29, 2014, at 10:41 PM, Nicole Torcolini via nagdu
<nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Marsha,
> 
>    Oh dear. I hope that it is nothing serious. I won't comment on not 
> going to the doctor sooner *smile*, but I might be able to provide 
> some tips on working your dog with one hand. How do you usually use 
> your right hand in guide work? Do you already have a method for 
> holding the leash in your left hand at the same time as holding the 
> harness handle? Do you use any additional equipment, such as a head 
> collar, on your dog that might make this process different?
> 
> Nicole and Lexia
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Marsha 
> Drenth via nagdu
> Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2014 6:16 PM
> To: the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List
> Subject: [nagdu] For your information
> 
>   hi list members, I'm emailing tonight to let you know what is going 
> on with me. I'm to ask that you be patient with me. On Monday evening 
> I took a minor fall off the curb. I was working my puppy at the time, 
> and slipped off of a curb. I landed on my bum and my wrist and elbow 
> took the brunt of my fall. So Tuesday I woke up and was fine. 
> Wednesday I woke up and my wrist was very painful and swollen. So as a 
> person, who does not like to go to doctors, unless I am dying, I 
> waited and thought I could get over the pain and swelling. Today I 
> went to the urgent care. As of right now I don't have a break, only 
> because there's so much swelling. that is not to say that there won't 
> be a break. Or that there isn't a break already. But with an x-ray 
> that they were not able to see if there was a break. In other words, 
> when I am trying to say, is that I am now only down to one hand. I'm 
> not allowed to type or anything like that with my right hand. Of 
> course this would've had to been my dominant hand. :-) The hand that I 
> do everything with. So, my point, is that you're all going to need to 
> be very patient with me. I was my signature says I'm using dictation 
> to write this email. If I make a mistake. It's because the dictation 
> made the mistake. I am only doing the best that I can. If I misspell a 
> word. Again it is that this dictation has made a mistake. I ask that 
> you be patient with me. I will be in a splint until next week at some 
> point. At that point I will then go back to an orthopedic doctor I 
> have more x-rays. Hopefully by then we can determine if it's truly a 
> break or not. I asked that everyone please pay attention to the rules. 
> Do your part in being a good list member. That includes providing your 
> name and email at the end of each of your email post. I will send the 
> rules again as Justin email at some point in the very near future. 
> Just in case those people who did not get the attachment, then can 
> read it. If you do have any questions you're welcome to email me. But 
> again I will be using dictation, and it might take me a little bit to 
> get back to you. So with all of this information, does anyone have any 
> ideas on how to take care, or how to work your puppy was only one 
> hand? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you,
> 
> Marsha drenth
> email: marsha.drenth at gmail.com
> Sent with my IPhone
> Please note that this email communication has been sent using my 
> iPhone. As such, I may have used dictation and had made attempts to
mitigate errors.
> Please do not be hesitant to ask for clarification as necessary. 
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