[nagdu] Rant on fake service dogs, responsibility, and owner trainers

[Daryl Marie]

Raven,

I never once thought of the distinction between licensing pets and making sure they behave.  Our city has licensing requirements, which helped us get one of our cats back three years ago.  Jenny is exempt from licensing fees because she is a service dog, but I can't remember if we had to provide paperwork from the guide dog school.

I actually came across many dogs in New York City when we were there; Jenny was very well behaved for the most part, not letting the other dogs distract her.  But most pets were well-behaved, and the only dog that really gave us any trouble was a police dog in the Subway barking crazily at us.

Julie, your question regarding working dogs on- or off-leash makes me curious... I think I may have to think about it more.  Perhaps the idea that dogs are tools rather than accessories may be key to why you are not receiving as many access concerns.

Daryl

----- Original Message ----- From: Julie J. via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> To: Raven Tolliver <ravend729 at gmail.com>, NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users <nagdu at nfbnet.org> Sent: Tue, 03 Mar 2015 07:25:27 -0700 (MST) Subject: Re: [nagdu] Rant on fake service dogs, responsibility,	and owner trainers  Raven, LOL Did I mention I homeschool my son? It really is a lot the same as owner training. I don't have to know all the answers, but I sure better have some resources who do.  And just like owner training, homeschool has been a wonderful experience! It's hard at times, but the challenge is what makes it so rewarding. On a different tangent...when I was in Alaska on vacation a few years ago, there are a lot of dogs out and about with their people. They are almost all mutts and they all do actual work or accompany their owners while they work. Rarely were any of them on leashes. They were not in restaurants or being passed off as service dogs. They were just dogs going and doing things with their owners. They were without exception very well behaved. No jumping up, no barking, no begging for food and the owners had complete control with only verbal commands and maybe hand signals. I wonder if it's a regional thing? For example I rarely get asked the legal questions and have only once been asked for ID. There are no fake service dogs, that I know of in my general area where I go most often, including the other cities around here. But it is also very solidly accepted that dogs have jobs. A lot of dogs are used for hunting, herding, general farm use and even my tiny town has a police dog. Most of the dogs are pets, but it's rare that dogs are kept in dog purses or otherwise used as fashion accessories here. Dogs seem to be treated more like dogs and I'm wondering if that is why I have less access issues? Julie Courage to Dare: A Blind Woman's Quest to Train her Own Guide Dog is now available! Get the book here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QXZSMOC Visit my new website on developing courage and living authentically: http://www.falling-up.com -----Original Message----- From: Raven Tolliver via nagdu Sent: Monday, March 02, 2015 9:37 PM To: nagdu Subject: [nagdu] Rant on fake service dogs, responsibility,and owner trainers The problem in this country is that legislation is regulating pet ownership to the point that people don't have to be responsible for their pets, or people are given too much leeway. Laws that mandate castration, dog licensing, and prohibit pets from public businesses are the laws I am talking about. People are not expected to have well-behaved pets. People are not expected to put their dogs through obedience classes, or at least train their dogs themselves, teach their dogs self-control, and maintain that training at home and in public. And so because of this here we are: Because the stupid public cannot be expected to have well-behaved pets, they bring them out to businesses, under the guise of service animals. Well, now it's the people with disabilities who must pick up the flack. We are expected to be responsible with our assistance dogs, so we should be okay with being grilled and carded and checked and proving who we are and what our dogs are. Sorry, but I don't think it's right. Either punish the people who are being insultingly ignorant, or put it on the public to be more responsible with their pets. I should not bare a burden because other people are abusing the law. I should not be punished for others crimes. If members of the public were allowed to bring their dogs in public, we would not be going through this fake service dog debacle. If everyone was expected to be responsible for and with their dogs, business owners and employees would have no qualms about asking a person with a misbehaving dog to leave. This issue does not need to be so complicated. To the person who said owner trainers are less likely to retire a dog when behavioral problems arise, I'm jumping to owner trainers' defense. There are plenty of guide dog programs and handlers from guide dog programs who push dogs to be a guide dog, when that dog is clearly not cut out for the job or for that particular handler. I used to be close to someone whose guide dog was clearly not meant for her, yet, she still has this dog. She constantly complains about how her dog's walking pace does not match her own; her dog walks too slow for her. And, her dog is always distracted. Walking with them is like walking in a sporting event. She has to nonstop, cheer her dog on, keep talking to her to keep her pace up, and all the while, she is physically pushing this dog to walk at a pace that she just doesn't want to. Now people from the program where she got the dog have observed her during class, and after she graduated, and she's still clinging to this dog and using her as a guide because of an emotional attachment. I'm sure we all know or have known someone like this, where they know the dog they were given isn't right for them for one reason or another, but they kept the dog because of the relationship. And because there are far more program graduates than owner trainers, I'm willing to bet there are far more program grads like this than there are owner trainers. And then don't even get me started on schools who push through adolescent dogs, and place the responsibilities of adults on the shoulders of teenagers. I have never been an owner trainer, though I think it's something I would like to do or be a part of one day. But I will say that because owner trainers don't have a program to fall back on, because they themselves are responsible for all or some of their dog's foundational training, they strive to have extremely well-behaved dogs. When they pick out a dog, they go into it knowing that there is a possibility that it might not work out. When you read literature for owner trainers on the net, this is one of the many warnings. You'd better have something in place just in case the dog doesn't turn out to meet the job requirements. Be ready to keep the dog,, return it to the breeder, or have a trusted person who will care for it if you can't for whatever reason. In a sense, I compare owner trainers to those parents who home school their children. They know that because they are choosing the alternative route, to be completely responsible for the education received by their child, that because they are going with the nonstandard option, that they'd better turn out well-educated children, or children who are more advanced in their education than their school-attending counterparts. Also, just because owner trainers don't have a school to call does not mean they don't have a source or soundboard for helping them make objective decisions. I argue that owner trainers have more resources at their disposal because they have not been taught to trust and obey a certain authority. Owner trainers can call obedience trainers, former or current service dog instructors they might know, private service dog trainers, and other owner trainers. There are other sources I'm sure, but my point is that they are not limited to one or two phone numbers, or one person or location. And just because you graduated from a school doesn't mean you'll recognize when to call the school, or call anyone for help. Many people, in addition to those with service dogs, don't know when they're having problems that require help. There are poor examples of people in every group. And so what? The good examples cannot control or always focus on mothering and improving the poor examples. The best thing they can do is demonstrate excellence by letting others see their successes. -- Raven 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 _______________________________________________ nagdu mailing list nagdu at nfbnet.org http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu: http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/julielj%40neb.rr.com  ----- No virus found in this message. 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