[nagdu] update

Tue May 26 20:16:44 UTC 2015

Buddy:

Your description is correct.  The chest snap in pad is either plain leather 
or, with the spikes.    The spikes are a single line of 7 thin plastic flat 
top spikes about 1 inch long.The spikes are used to discourage the dog from 
pulling too hard.   When I got Eva a year ago they gave me the spike strip 
but, I have never had to use it.

To some it may sound cruel but, the trainers assure me that it is not.  If 
you don't agree, then just take them home and don't use them.  Eva's my 
first dog from Pilot so, I really don't have an opinion for or against using 
the spike strip.  Believe me, in the past 40 years I've worked a few very 
hard pulling dogs and, I might have used the spike strip  if I had one. 
There is nothing worse than trying to work a dog that has such a hard pull. 
I am sure these little bits of plastic can't possibly hurt some of those big 
strong muscular dogs.  I also know they advise students to only use them if 
all other methods of controlling the pull have not worked.

Sandra and Eva

-----Original Message----- 
From: Buddy Brannan via nagdu
Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2015 1:29 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Buddy Brannan
Subject: Re: [nagdu] update

A Pilot grad can correct me if I'm wrong, but.

Pilot's harnesses have a feature that, to my knowledge, no other guide dog 
school's equipment has. (Well, the leashes do, too...the leashes are a bit 
longer than most, and can be made into an impromptu muzzle.) Anyway, there 
are two snaps on the chest strap. Normally, a piece of leather is snapped in 
between them, straight across. However, one can take that out and snap into 
its place a set of blunt prongs. I think the purpose of these is to 
discourage the dog from excessive/too hard of a pull. I believe these were 
issued at one time to all grads as a matter of course, but I don't think 
they are anymore, except in specific circumstances and if a trainer thinks a 
dog needs them very specifically. Pilot grads, please correct any factual 
errors on my part, but I *think* this is what Abby's talking about.

--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: 814-860-3194
Mobile: 814-431-0962
Email: buddy at brannan.name

> On May 26, 2015, at 1:23 PM, Shannon Dyer via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> 
> wrote:
>
> Abby,
>
> Whatâ?Ts a chest pad? Iâ?Tve never heard of it.
>
> Good luck with everything. Waiting can be torture.
>
> Shannon and the Acelet
>> On May 26, 2015, at 12:13 PM, Abigail Bolling via nagdu 
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>> Well, I have a friend with me now, and we went on a walk on Saturday. A 
>> pretty long walkâ?¦ (about 3 miles to be exact.)
>> She saw first hand my problems with Jada.
>> An update about Leader. They want to evaluate Jada. I have called and 
>> told them that taking Jada to re-evaluate and return her to me (once 
>> again) will not be a good idea. Theyâ?Tve done this once with Her and she 
>> did not trust me afterward. I had to restart the bonding process, and I 
>> canâ?Tt afford to do that right now. So they are sending a trainer out to 
>> me next week.
>> I have spoken with Pilot and they are willing to accept me after I have a 
>> physical done. I have told pilot that I would attend their school as long 
>> as I would not be required to use the chest pads, which I do not agree 
>> with at all, and a shock collar will never be put on my dog. The student 
>> services rep I spoke with said those wouldnâ?Tt be a problem, so weâ?Tll 
>> see what happens. I am really hoping Leader will kind of, to put it 
>> bluntly, step it up a notch because I canâ?Tt afford to wait and mess 
>> around.
>> So anyway, Iâ?Tm a little frustrated, Jadaâ?Ts tired but she still wants 
>> to work and becomes a holy terror on four paws, so I work her or else my 
>> apartment will get destroyed. But I can personally say, I donâ?Tt like 
>> this waiting around. Anyway,
>> Another thing with Jada, I found another bump on her leg. About a year 
>> and a half or so ago, Jada had to have surgery for a fatty tumor in her 
>> legâ?¦ Well, it looks like the bump is back. Itâ?Ts very small and 
>> oblong, but itâ?Ts harder than the last one. It is just above her scarred 
>> area, so it may just be her muscle knotted up from the surgery. To get 
>> the last tumor out of her leg, the vet had to cut and go under her 
>> muscle, so it could be that too. But all I see is a bump that isnâ?Tt 
>> supposed to be there, and wasnâ?Tt there a week ago.
>>
>> Anyway, those are the updates as of now. Iâ?Tll let yâ?Tall know if there 
>> are any other developments.
>>
>> Abby and Princess Jada.
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>
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