[NAGDU] How are guide dogs receaved at national convention?

Mon May 22 20:40:02 UTC 2017

I did not have any issues with Brewer at the 2006 national convention except
for him leaping into the shower a few times.  Noone had any problems, and it
was funny at the banquet that year because Brewer decided to lay right on
top of one of my friends cane.  As he reached for his cane and discovered my
dog under the table, everyone else at the table then looked under the table
surprised to find a dog under there that they did not know about.  
Jordan
-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of andrew edgcumbe
via NAGDU
Sent: Monday, May 22, 2017 3:20 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: andrew edgcumbe
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] How are guide dogs receaved at national convention?

hi heather I have not had a guide dog i am from canada

On Mon, May 22, 2017 at 4:10 PM, Heather Bird via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Hello, list. I am interested in any experiences that any of you can 
> share regarding treatment of guide dogs at the NFB national 
> conventions. I have never been to an NFB National convention. I've 
> never been to an ACB national either. I have been to our New York 
> state NFB convention, and that went very well, but it was much 
> smaller, being a state convention, and from descriptions others have 
> given me, that state convention was on the small side. I think there 
> were a grand total of seven service dogs there, funnily enough, four of
them were ` and five of which were all from the Seeing Eye.
> I have been given to understand that many state conventions are much, 
> much larger than ours and that national is larger still. What I am 
> asking, and what I am concerned about is how, generally, guide dogs 
> are received by the membership. I've heard a few horror stories from 
> guide dog users over the years, but as I wasn't a member of either of 
> the two major blindness organizations at the time, it all blurred 
> together and I can't recall now which stories were NFB national and 
> which were ACB national, or which were from the sixties and which from 
> the 90s on, and of course that all makes a big difference. So, I want 
> to know from any of you who have attended convention, how did people 
> react to you and your dog? If your dog misbehaved in a minor way and 
> you immediately corrected the behavior and reestablished control did 
> the other person let it go and move on, or did they get into your face 
> or gossip about you and your dog? If another service dog handler's dog 
> caused a problem for your dog, were the two of you able to work it out 
> respectfully, or did things deteriorate? If someone accidentally 
> stepped on your dog, hit them with a door or whacked them with a cane, 
> did they apologize to you and inquire if your dog was alright, or did 
> they blame you and curse you out? I'm sure that every one has had at 
> least one good and at least one bad experience, but I am interested in 
> whether the majority of the incidents were positive, or negative. When 
> a negative incident occurred was it major or minor? More importantly, 
> how was it resolved? Were you able to get help with moderate to major 
> problems from your mentor, your chapter or affiliate leader or another 
> person in authority? Were concerns over any incidents taken seriously, 
> or brushed aside or was there victim blaming? I like to think that I 
> am a great handler. I know that I am a good handler, and I think I can 
> say that I am a great handler. Perfect? No, the best? again, no, but
pretty darn competent and responsible. Ilsa is an excellent dog, but she is
also pretty young.
> She will be about two and a half at the time of national. 
> Realistically I know that she is likely to misbehave in very tiny 
> ways, very frequently, but never or only extremely rarely in a more 
> serious way. She is quick to sniff or wine or to start pulling my arm 
> off, lots of energy, but she is also very quick to be corrected or 
> re-directed, often purely verbal and she has no serious issues such as 
> dog aggression, relieving accidents outside of illness, barking, etc. 
> Any information, experience, feedback or wisdom that y'all can share would
be very much appreciated.
>
> Thanks much.
>
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