[nagdu] petting guide dog question

[Dan Weiner]

Or there's Dan who, if the dog isn't guiding me will  let people interact,
I'm sitting a t a restaurant and someone asks, I explain and allow them to
interact  and sometimes that can be a pretty pleasant interlude..  It really
depends on you and your dog, some dogs can handle attention and still stay
focused at work time and others can't, but I have generally found that at
least in my case (the standard proviso so I'm not accused of telling others
what to do--lol), that allowing my dog some socialization doesn't harm me
and his work if it is when I feel it appropriate. Dogs are living creatures
that need and enjoy attention.
Again to be emphasized is my disgression.

Having said that, you just can't win sometimes--lol.

I was on a subway platform twelve years ago and I could tell by Evan , my
dog at the time, stance that someone was bothering him.
I intoned those magic words "please don't pet my dog, he needs to work".
The lady, it turned out to be a lady said "He's not working".
I said, "standing and waiting for a train is working, Ma'am, it's
dangerous."
She said "I never heard of such a thing".
I resisted the temptation to ask "which thing didn't you hear of, a train,
danger, or a working dog?"

She went away literally mumbling to herself about ungrateful blind people,
what I am ungrateful for remains to this day a mystery best never revealed.

Now lest I am accused of cavalierly flaunting the fact that other people
don't have a liberal petting policy, of course I know it can sometimes be
annoying, you're sitting  having a great conversation and someone will
literally tap you on the shoulder and ask if they can pet your dog. Breaks
your concentration--smile.
The best solution to that is if you feel this is a problem keep your dog as
much out of the way as possible, then again I don't do that all the time
either so I'm not the one to ask.

I wonder, John, if your Mom is asking this because she is afraid you will
embarrass her by saying "no please don't pet my dog" to well-meaning members
of the public. I suppose the way to handle that is ask her which is more
important, your mobility or the public.
Again, I should emphasize that I'm on the liberal end of the petting
forbearance scale so I'm sure others have opinions.

Dan the man, Parker the hound dog

dcwein at dcwein.cnc.net

 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Buddy Brannan via
nagdu
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2014 11:05 AM
To: John Sanders; NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog
Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] petting guide dog question

Well, there's the textbook answer, and then there's real life. 

Textbook:
"He's working right now, so please do not pet him or talk to him, because
that will distract him, and that could be dangerous. Moreover, such
attention from others over time could lead to future problems, so please
just ignore him, I'd appreciate it."

Real life:
"Get your !@#$%^^!#@##%@%#$!@!!!!!ing hands off my dog!" 
(This after approximately the 48,923,875th such encounter during the past
week.) 

So.yeah.take your pick. 

My reaction usually falls somewhere between these extremes. Although the
other thing is, you probably want to focus less on discouraging others from
petting (a losing battle) and more on discouraging your dog from reacting
(something more under your control). 

-
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: 814-860-3194
Mobile: 814-431-0962
Email: buddy at brannan.name



> On Nov 28, 2014, at 10:40 AM, John Sanders via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> I have a question: I know that this topic has already been talked about so
I do apologize for reposting it.
> I had talked with my parents and they said that they were ok with me
getting a guide dog.
> My mom had asked me, if me and the guide dog were just sitting there and
the guide dog wasn't working, what would I say to some one who wanted to pet
him?
> I remember a lot of people saying that while the guide dog is working,
people are not supposed to pet him.
> I'm just wondering:  when your not working with the guide dog, do you
allow other people to pet them?
> I hope to hear from you soon.
> Sincerely,
> John Sanders
> _______________________________________________
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