[nagdu] Comments people make

Sat Jun 20 18:59:51 UTC 2015

Well as I've said, life has trade-offs, being blind,  for independent travel
we have only two means at our disposal, dog or cane.

As far as people saying my dog is my best friend, I just say" yes I love
him" or "he's my buddy" or something noncommittal like that, just don't
worry about it.
I've just found that I don't have time to worry about all these little
things that people might say...but that's just me and certainly we all have
different things that bother us.

Now, just to prove that Dan W. isn't always so easy-going but he has to be
provoked...I'll tell you about an incident that happened 20 years ago.
Ironically I had just given my pup at the time, Grant, a big big bowl of
water, it's hot in Florida.
We start walking after, remember the big bowl of water. A lady said "It's
hot today can I give your dog some water".
"No thanks," I said cheerfully, I just gave him some and he's really had
enough."
Lady:  "but it's hot".
Dan: "yes I know and thanks, but he's just had some water".
Lady "it looks like he's hot".

Dan, "thanks but I need to go."
Lady: "well if something happens to your dog then what will happen to you".
Dan, who was feeling pretty witty that day "what will happen is I won't have
to stand here talking to you about giving a dog that just had water some
water, enjoy the day".

"enjoy the day" or "have a good day" is sometimes Dan's code for "go jump in
a lake".

Now could I have handled that better? Sure, but that's what happened.

Or what about the time when five years ago,  was it the same lady/--lol puts
down a bowl of water right in front of my dog when I'm waiting for a bus and
Dan not knowing what was happening scolds the dog because he thinks the dog
is trying to grab something off the ground?  Yes I had to have some words
with that person too though I don't think she ever got the point that you
should ask the dog owner first before doing things.
It takes all kinds to make a world, as my Mom said.

I suppose the interference from the public I really can't stand is people
trying to or just not trying to feed, but feeding my dog.  I learned to keep
a very close watch on what my dog was doing because you never know what
people will do

Bottom line, though is I sort of learned to be cautious but relax at the
same time if that makes any sense whatsoever..
And now everyone, I hope you all enjoy the day, but this time I mean it
sincerely and not sarcastically.

Dan W.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Shannon Dyer via
nagdu
Sent: Saturday, June 20, 2015 1:50 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Shannon Dyer
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Why, or why not?

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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