[nagdu] Why, or why not?

[Shannon Dyer]

Hi, Daniel.

I got my first dog in the summer of 1997, right between my junior and senior years of high school. I’ve had two others, and all of my dogs have had their good and bad qualities.

In terms of cons of working dogs in general, here are a couple.

First off, I hate always having to talk about dogs with people. Dead dogs that they’ve had, dogs they have who look like mine, but really don’t, how my dog must be my best friend, etc. These conversations have gone on no matter which of my dogs I’ve had, and I haven’t found a good way of stopping them. I’m not the most outgoing person in all the world, so it’s difficult for me to always have strangers coming up to me, not because of me, but because of my dog.

The shedding can definitely be a problem. There are grooming tools that can make an amazing amount of difference, but the fact remains that some dogs shed a lot, no matter what.

Going out in rain or snow to relieve my dog isn’t great. Obviously, I do it, but I sometimes think how nice it would be to stay inside where it’s warm and dry.

Those are a few I can think of right now. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Shannon and the Acelet
> On Jun 19, 2015, at 12:05 PM, daniel via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 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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