[nagdu] Why, or why not?

Raven Tolliver ravend729 at gmail.com
Fri Jun 19 19:56:19 UTC 2015


Daniel,
The negative aspects of a dog depends on the person. For instance,
some people consider shedding a negative thing as you do. I personally
don't look at shedding as a drawback, unless it is excessive. And in
that case, excessive shedding is likely a symptom of a low thyroid.
I really don't look at caring for my dog as anymore challenging or
taxing than caring for myself. But this is a commitment to caring for
another living being, and that in itself is undesirable for some
people. So here's what you're signing up for when you get a dog.
1. a time/energy commitment to training.
Honestly, the schools don't seem to teach students enough about dog
training. But it is important to have an understanding of dog
training, and basic aspects of dog psychology. They reason differently
than we do., and they can't verbally express when they're stressed
out, aggravated, in pain, or in need. It is essential to have some
understanding of not just your dog, but dogs in general. You will
spend plenty of your time with your dog redirecting, retraining
behaviors, and reinforcing new behaviors.
2. Cleaning up
fur, poop, and occasionally vomit and indoor accidents. It happens, so
we should be prepared to deal with that.
3. Late night relieving.
4. working with distractions and undesirable behaviors.
Most dogs are perfect save for one thing. Maybe they scavenge, or they
have a dog distraction, or retrieve unnecessarily. Maybe they jump up
and eat or chew on things. Doesn't happen to everyone, but it's common
for your dog to have some flaw that needs work. They can't be perfect
all the time. And remember, they spend 4-6 months in a kennel, where
they're not supervised 24-7, and house rules are not enforced, so
their manners fall to the wayside.
5. attention.
They need it, and you gotta be able to give it. They need play, work,
and mental stimulation. They need to be with you and bond with you.
Failure to provide adequate attention and stress release for your dog
often results in your dog getting himself into trouble. Boredom and
loneliness create naughty dogs.
6. Money.
There's no such thing as a free dog. We don't have to pay to get them,
but we gotta pay to keep 'em. Food, health care, grooming supplies,
toys, bedding/crates, and emergencies. The better you take care of
your dog, the less money they cost.
7. the public.
Honestly, this alone has turned some people off of guide dogs, and I
don't blame them. One of the worst things about having a guide dog, or
probably any service animal that you travel with in public, is other
people. They violate our personal space, treating us as if we're some
mobile petting zoo. They think it's cute to make kissy, smacking,
clicking, barking, whistling, cooing noises at your dog. And you have
to be able to deal with it. How you deal with it is up to you. I'm
diplomatic about it most times, but I can get aggressive and abrasive
when people get up in my space and pet my dog.
Some people don't like the added social interaction, so you have to
know yourself.
8. dealing with family and friends
They're just as bad as the public sometimes. They think the dog is
their dog, too. They wanna call to your dog and play with them
upfront, which isn't the best idea for the first couple months. They
want to give them table scraps. And they struggle or fail to obey your
wishes about interacting with your dog. It's annoying, but you can't
be a push over just because these people are your kin.

Anyway, those are some of the more frustrating things about having a
guide dog. There's more that others will bring up.
-- 
Raven
Founder of 1AM Editing & Research
www.1am-editing.com

You are valuable because of your potential, not because of what you
have or what you do.

Naturally-reared guide dogs
https://groups.google.com/d/forum/nrguidedogs

On 6/19/15, Tracy Carcione via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Daniel.
> I'm sorry having a dog hasn't been working out for you.
> I've had 7 dogs now, though it's hard to remember specific problems with
> the
> older ones.  It's the old, polished dog I remember best.
> But I can tell you the annoyances I'm having with the new pup.  He's young,
> and loves to pick up things.  If things are not on the floor, he will jump
> on a chair to reach what he wants, even though he has lots of toys on the
> floor.  He is slowly growing out of this, but still needs a lot of
> supervision, more than any dog I've ever had, pet or guide.
> At the end of class, he suddenly realized I wasn't very effective at
> stopping him scavenging, and now he tries it at nearly every opportunity.
> I
> am constantly either catching him in a dive or taking something out of his
> mouth.  I have become familiar with the location of the restroom in several
> popular destinations, just so I can wash dog spit off my hands.  I hope
> that
> I will over time be able to stop or greatly diminish his scavenging
> attempts, but it will take a while, and I may always have to deal with it
> to
> some degree.
> He has an annoying habit of creeeeeeping up on some things, like curbs or
> steps.  Again, I'm working on it, and it's getting better, but, meantime,
> I'm sure it makes me look utterly ridiculous to anyone watching.
>
> The new pup doesn't shed much, except for a few days this spring.  Even
> then, he was well-groomed in a few minutes.  If it's a concern, you could
> ask for a dog who doesn't shed a lot.  My labs have been fairly
> low-shedders.
> HTH, and good luck with whatever you decide.
> Tracy
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of daniel via nagdu
> Sent: Friday, June 19, 2015 12:05 PM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Cc: daniel
> Subject: [nagdu] Why, or why not?
>
> Hey guys, I haven't posted to the list in a while mainly because I don't
> have my dog anymore; she was terrified of cars and couldn't do work
> properly
> because of it. I know this is going to come off a bit negatively but I
> don't
> mean it that way: I feel as if, guide dog users we have a tendency to extol
> the greatness of using a guide dog, we always say how amazing it is and
> wonderful having one by our side is but I feel that the cons aren't ever
> really discussed. I retired my dog roughly a year ago and, at the time, it
> was pretty tramatic (I literally cried for like an hour at a time). I'm now
> really contemplating going back to The Seeing Eye again and am really
> honestly wondering what kind of cons or negative things yall have ran into
> while using a dog? I know there is a huuuge range of people from just
> starting out to have had a dog for the past 20 years so I feel like I can
> get some really good feedback. I know one for me was (and this may sound
> odd
> or vain) was excessive shedding. I could brush and comb Irene for 30-45
> minutes every evening and morning and yet, every time I got in a car there
> would be fur everywhere and when I vacuumed I could've probably made a
> pillow every time. I have literally never in my life seen a dog shed as
> much
> as that and am quite frankly not sure where all the fur came from off a 45
> pound dog. However, I think I could deal with it again if I were to get
> another guide dog; I would just have to get even better at managing. I have
> a few others but I'm wondering what are some for yall?
>
> Again, I really am not trying to be negative just really trying to get the
> whole story.again.
>
> I'm also (obviously) trying to decide if I want to go back again (that's a
> whole other post though, I think). I'm also not really trying to say (nor
> do
> I want yet another debate) that canes are better than dogs or vice versa.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dan.
>
>
>
> P.s: This is a sort of spinoff from "would I ever give up having a dog?"
>
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