[nagdu] My Experience of Having My Dog Taken Away

[Rachel Grider]

Hello, Sandra:

I have never owned a guide dog, though I have considered getting one and often read posts from this list. 

Thank you so much for sharing your story. It really upsets me that this happened to you, and I'm sure that similar things have happened to others.  When reading some of the other posts about ownership, I naively assumed that the only way you could get your dog taken away was if you were mistreating it. This is obviously not the case, and I now realize the importance of getting my dog from a school that grants unconditional ownership, should I eventually decide to get one. 

Best,

Rachel   

http//www.rachelgrider.com

> On Aug 20, 2015, at 13:11, Tara Briggs via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Thanks so much for sharing your story. I am sorry you had such a horrible experience.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Aug 19, 2015, at 6:36 PM, S L Johnson via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Marion:
>> 
>> I’m sending this both to you and the list.  I have nothing to hide.  I don’t 
>> mind everyone knowing the trauma I went through.  I am proud that despite 
>> this horrible beginning, forty years later, I am still a proud guide dog 
>> owner with a wonderful golden by my side.  Please feel free to keep my 
>> story.  I hope it helps prove our point that we need complete unconditional 
>> ownership.
>> 
>> The incident was in 1976 with The Guide Dog Foundation.  I had graduated 
>> with Hogan, a male golden, in August 1976.  John Byfield had trained Hogan 
>> and on class I informed him that the dog pulled much too hard and walked 
>> much too fast.  He said it was my job to keep up with him so, I tried my 
>> best and graduated with him.  I don’t remember the exact day but, it was 
>> just before Christmas 1976 when a trainer showed up at my college dorm to 
>> take Hogan.  The reason given was my frequent falls due to multiple 
>> sclerosis.  My medical condition had nothing to do with me falling down 
>> curbs and stairs.  Hogan had the bad habit of walking very fast right up to 
>> the curb or steps without any slowing in pace to let me know a curb or step 
>> was coming.  This sudden stop  caused me to lose my balance and fall.  John 
>> Beagel and Barry Hatten had both been working with us a lot and Hogan was 
>> getting much better and I felt confident with our progress.  Suddenly one 
>> day during my very busy holiday performance schedule, I  returned to hear 
>> that Barry had been looking for me.  I was not warned of his visit so wasn’t 
>> there at the time.  I didn’t hear anything else until two days later when 
>> John Beagel showed up and informed me that John Byfield had sent him to pick 
>> up Hogan.  I was shocked.  I thought we had been doing so much better.  In a 
>> panic, I frantically faxed the contract to my father’s lawyer and was told 
>> that I had no choice but to give the dog to the trainer.  I was devastated. 
>> I was just minutes away from leaving for the airport to fly home for the 
>> Christmas break.  By the time I arrived home minus my wonderful guide, my 
>> family and their lawyer had already contacted members of the GDF Board. 
>> Immediately my doctor sent information to them and John Beagel and Barry 
>> Hatten gave their opinions of my work with Hogan.  The board decided that 
>> John Byfield had acted unfairly by taking Hogan.  They agreed with my doctor 
>> that I was physically capable of working Hogan as long as he could slow down 
>> a bit and not pull so hard.  I got him back right after GDF opened up after 
>> New Years.  What should have been a great first Christmas with my new guide, 
>> turned out to be a horrible traumatic experience.
>> 
>> Unfortunately, that wasn’t my only bad experience with John Byfield’s unfair 
>> actions.  When Hogan retired due to city stress a few years later, John 
>> Byfield again did the same thing in October 1979 after another graduate 
>> complained to him about my very young new dog, Bart’s behavior at a solo 
>> recital I had given the previous day.  As I was singing, Bart, a very 
>> playful young immature male golden, was lying at my feet and I was holding 
>> the leash.  Bart very quietly and sneakily slipped his somewhat loose chain 
>> collar and ran around the audience trying to play.  I immediately called him 
>> and after a bit more frantic running around he came back to me and I put his 
>> collar back on.  I kept a tighter hold on the leash and collar and Bart’s 
>> behavior and guiding were fine the rest of the day.  The next day, My 
>> accompanist, also, another GDF grad called to complain to John Byfield.  I 
>> suddenly get a call that someone was on their way to my apartment to pick up 
>> Bart.  I wasn’t given the chance to defend myself or Bart who was still so 
>> young and managed to slip out of that too loose collar.  All John Byfield 
>> cared about is how upset this other graduate was about what Bart had done 
>> and that it was my fault.  He said that it looked bad for GDF and it was 
>> obvious I should not have a guide dog.  I wasn’t given the chance to fight 
>> because the board wouldn’t listen this time, they just took the word and 
>> reacted to the pressure from of another grad.  We all know Stuff happens 
>> with new dogs and although I was also very embarrassed, I knew that it wasn’t 
>> the end of the world and no excuse to have my dog taken away.  This left me 
>> alone in a questionable neighborhood without my dog.  I was terrified to be 
>> walking alone with just a cane.  Two nights later after leaving the drug 
>> store with my medications, I was mugged by a group of teen boys who grabbed 
>> me saying, “now you don’t have that dog for protection so, we got you, give 
>> us your purse and bag of meds”.  I was so afraid of walking alone after that 
>> night that I had to stay with friends until I could get accepted to another 
>> guide dog school a few months later.
>> 
>> After those traumatic experiences, I will never attend a school that will 
>> not give me unconditional ownership. It has been many years since then but, 
>> the horror and trauma remain as clear today.  I still feel very vulnerable 
>> and I’m still afraid to walk alone without a dog by my side.  I’m still very 
>> worried if I need to ask for a trainer to help with any issues even though I 
>> own the dog.  Those two experiences left me with the constant fear of 
>> suddenly without reason having my dog taken away.  I realize it will not 
>> happen due to my ownership but the knot of fear is always there.
>> 
>> .  Another story shows how my having complete ownership allowed me to keep 
>> my dog.  In February 2002, a serious back injury from afall on the ice along 
>> with a severe relapse of multiple sclerosis, I ended up having to use a 
>> manual wheelchair. At that time, I was working Cinnamon, a golden from 
>> Leader Dogs.  With no other way to get Cinnamon out, get myself to medical 
>> appointments and do shopping and other errands, I taught Cinnamon to guide 
>> me in the wheelchair. When Leader Dogs found out over a year later, they 
>> disagreed with her guiding me in the wheelchair. Despite the evaluation by 
>> two well-known wheelchair guide dog trainers,  who said we were an excellent 
>> very well-trained safe wheelchair guide team, leader still refused to 
>> acknowledge it could be done.  Due to the contract I had signed, I owned 
>> Cinnamon but, Leader Dogs still owned the harness and could ask for it back 
>> at any time.  So, I gave them the harness, collar, tags leashes and ID card 
>> which all said Leader Dogs on them.  I got a harness for Cinnamon and 
>> continued to work her until her retirement many years later.  With Cinnamon’s 
>> help, I gradually got back the strength and stamina to walk again and when 
>> she finally retired in 2008 I was able to train with Tara, my golden who 
>> walked slow and helped with balance.
>> 
>> As you can see, I’ve lived through the negatives of not having ownership and 
>> the positives of having it.  I hope my stories will help our fight for 
>> complete and unconditional ownership.
>> 
>> Sandra
>> 
>> <S L Johnson.vcf>
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