[NAGDU] Love Me, Love My Dog (was Re: Introducing a New Member)

[Buddy Brannan]

Hi Marion,

While I agree that there are certainly extremes in all things, and there are definitely exceptions to every rule, I personally think that in more cases than not, my dog will go where I do. Certainly I have friends who legitimately have allergies, who I would never want to make uncomfortable in their own homes. Certainly I have friends who have reactive dogs to whose homes I wouldn't bring my dog, because after all, it's the reactive dog's home as much as it is my friends' home, not my home. However, respect has to run both ways. Sure, someone can make an arbitrary decision that they don't want your dog in their house or car. Or ask you not to take your dog to some activity or other "just this once". Those kinds of things can easily, far *too* easily, turn into very uncomfortable, and unacceptable, power and control dynamics. Just this once turns into more times, and eventually, you know where this is going. So a "Love me, love my dog" attitude is kind of understandable, although certainly, as I've said, respect has to run both ways. While we need to respect other people's space, others need to respect us the same. 

--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Mobile (preferred): (814) 431-0962
Phone: (814) 860-3194
Email: buddy at brannan.name
"We are all just walking each other home." 



> On Nov 30, 2017, at 3:47 PM, NAGDU President via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Bree,
> 
> 	First of all, Tami, Mike, and all the others have given you some
> great information and, I hope, a bit more perspective. My name is Marion and
> I am the president of this fine group. I am so happy to see you here on this
> list and, while I am at it, welcome to all the other new listers I have not
> had the chance to welcome.
> 
> 	
> When I got my first dog in 1987, I had pretty good acuity, probably around
> 20/40 or so, though I'm not really sure. I know I could read news print
> which is about 10 pt. but I probably got a little ink on my nose! (smile)
> Because I have retinitis pigmentosa, my field of vision was about 15
> degrees, if that. I was virtually totally blind at night and things like
> steps and curbs were not visually detectable by me. I started using a white
> cane in the late 70s but always had an interest in a guide dog. During my
> progression of rP, I was a trainer of police dogs and had my own dual
> personality (that's what we called them) German Shepherd. I always had dogs
> growing up, so getting a guide dog was a natural thing for me to do.
> 
> 	Rather than repeating what Mike, Tami, and the others have said, the
> only thing I will reiterate is that it is your choice and your decision
> should be based upon what you believe is good and right for you - not the
> irrational, silly things others will tell you. Also, if you do decide to get
> a guide dog, do not let your cane travel skills go by the wayside. There
> will be plenty of opportunity to use them and you want to be completely
> independent at all times, even when your pup is ill, the weather is bad and
> you don't want to take it out in that awful stuff, you are going to a
> concert, or visiting family and friends who don't want the dog in their
> house. (BTW, on this last part, please don't take the attitude of, "If they
> don't want my dog, they don't want me!" Just as working a guide dog is your
> choice, whether or not to have a dog in their house is theirs.) In addition,
> my daughter has a dog that she rescued from the fight ring. He is not a very
> sociable animal with other dogs for obvious reasons. My wife (who is also a
> guide dog user) and I would never dream of taking our dogs to our daughter's
> house! My daughter wants us and loves our dogs; that is why she would prefer
> we leave them home and so do we!
> 
> 	Again, let me welcome you to our list and hope you find answers and
> inspiration here as you live the life you want!
> 
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion
> 
> 
> Marion Gwizdala, President
> National Association of Guide Dog Users Inc. (NAGDU)
> National Federation of the Blind
> (813) 626-2789
> President at NAGDU.ORG
> 
> 
> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
> characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise
> expectations because low expectations create barriers between blind  people
> and our dreams. You can live the life you want! Blindness is not what holds
> you back.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tami Jarvis via
> NAGDU
> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2017 12:37 PM
> To: Bree R. via NAGDU
> Cc: Tami Jarvis
> Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Introducing a New Member
> 
> Bree,
> 
> Welcome. Yes, you've come to the right place. I'm Tami, working my 
> second owner-trained poodle guide. I have retinitis pigmentosa, so have 
> done the whole progressive vision loss into blindness thing. Well, not 
> the whole thing, since I'm still not totally blind, but I am working on 
> it and will get there when I get there. /lol/
> 
> Other people with extensive experience with dogs from the various 
> training programs will give you good information. In general, they do 
> provide dogs to people with partial vision loss, though that was not 
> always the case. Now the operating assumption is more that if you need a 
> cane, you need a dog for the same reasons if you choose dog over cane.
> 
> Dealing with vision loss means dealing with a lot of feelings, and 
> everyone does it their own way. Being in an in-between state where you 
> don't know where you fit in comes with additional feelings and 
> confusions. Your feelings are your own, and how you deal with them is 
> for you to do. However... It sounds like you've been dealt a heavy guilt 
> load from somewhere, including by the case worker who told you you 
> should be grateful. Wrong. Just... wrong. People in the resource fields 
> will tell you that, and usually what it means is that they don't want to 
> spend money on you, so they're hoping you'll go away and shut up. What 
> they'll be telling the totally blind clients is that they can't do 
> anything anyway, so the agency needs to spend the resources on people 
> with some vision. So, if you feel either guilty or grateful for reasons 
> of your own, that's entirely normal as part of the adjustment process. 
> So is feeling angry, bitter, maybe okay, and lots of other things. But 
> if you can avoid letting someone else tell you what you ought to feel, 
> then that's a good.
> 
> As for using a guide dog when you have good cane mobility skills, it 
> really is a matter of choice. A dog is great with some of the areas you 
> mention, and I definitely prefer navigating those same sorts of 
> difficult places with the dog. The dog does not come with an off switch, 
> however, so you can't just stick in the corner out of the way when you 
> get home. The cane does not have off days or suddenly decide to go sniff 
> the bushes over there while neatly convincing you it is taking you 
> around an obstacle. A cane also won't see that quiet car blowing through 
> the red light and zooming towards the crosswalk where you are walking, 
> nor will it knock you back and back again so the car speeds by inches in 
> front of you instead of right over you. And so on. The decision for most 
> people seems to come down to a weighing of pros and cons and an 
> examination of lifestyle and preferences.
> 
> There are something like 13 programs to choose from (someone will 
> correct me if I'm wrong on the number), so there is good availability of 
> guide dogs. I've also heard the bit about not taking a guide dog away 
> from someone who really needs one, but that's, well, bunk. First, you 
> really need a cane, so you really need a guide dog. Second, if you do 
> decide on a dog and are matched with one, then it is true that someone 
> else who needs a guide dog will not get that dog. That person will get a 
> different dog. If you have partial vision and want a guide dog, people 
> will lay that guilt trip on you, though, along with all the others. 
> Sigh. Considering you own needs versus those of others when consuming 
> finite resources is laudable, but I think it is important to remember 
> that if the resources are made available for blind people and you are a 
> blind person, then they are available for you if you need them. It's 
> usually people trying to hoard those resources who will tell you 
> otherwise. If you were totally blind, the excuses would be different is 
> all. Sigh.
> 
> Anyway, that's just my take, and you will hear many others and get lots 
> of information to filter through as you make your decision about what is 
> best for you. Do feel free to let us know how you decide, either way.
> 
> Tami
> 
> On 11/29/2017 12:41 AM, Bree R. via NAGDU wrote:
>> Thank you for letting me join your list. I don't know if this is a list
> that can help me. Or if I belong here. I think I want to at least try to get
> some more info about guide dogs before I decide whether or not a guide dog
> would help me with travel.
>> 
>> I finished mobility training through ACBVI before I moved last spring. I
> met a few people who had guide dogs and I wondered if they were even an
> option for me. I know I should talk to the guide dog schools to ask but it's
> intimidating since what if they just say no & I'm wasting their time.
>> 
>> I don't think or don't know if I should even try because I have done
> mobility training and it helped a lot. I don't think I have to have a guide
> dog to be safe. Or take someone's dog who needs them more than me. Mostly
> because my better eye I can see out of is corrected or can be to 20/70. I
> think that I would not think of a guide dog if I could see enough to not use
> a cane & if the people I met didn't make me wonder.
>> 
>> 
>> ACBVI said it is low vision but not blindness & I know guide dogs are for
> people who are really are blind. I just can't use what I can see very well I
> guess is how to explain it because what I see doesn't match what is there. I
> don't have RP but it's similar they said except there's just rod and cone
> dystrophy and mostly it's a male condition so they didn't know what was
> going on for a long time. I wear glasses over contract lenses which is how I
> can see 20/70 in one eye and it's like 20/200 on the other. My glasses are
> made with crystals and they're supposed to help them work together but it
> doesn't always work and sometimes makes it worse. I am night blind since I
> was a kid and have amblyopia where my right eye won't look straight and also
> photophobia. I think if I could see 20/70 really like 20/70 is then I
> wouldn't need a cane even it's just it is not the same trying to walk or get
> around as it is to read letters on a chart.
>> 
>> The counselor at the last session I had with Voc Rehab told me my vision
> is really not bad at all and to be grateful and I am. I think that is why I
> don't want to call and talk to guide dog schools because I feel guilty.
>> 
>> I wanted to ask someone with a guide dog though if I really couldn't try
> to have a guide dog. I remembered the name of the NFB from something a while
> ago so I found a google result for your list when I searched NFB and guide
> dogs.
>> 
>> I hope it's ok for me to ask this here. I mean I know Im glad I can still
> see and all and I hope I don't keep having worse vision but I'm 27 and it
> has been getting worse for many years now. I feel bad though if I sound
> ungrateful. I'm really not. I just wonder if it is true that I cannot try to
> get a guide dog and that they are for only totally blind people. I sort of
> wish I could try to have one now because it seems like it would be much
> better to travel and to not have to run into something to know its there
> with my cane and to move around things a dog would see especially in the
> winter when it's hard to tell where curbs and roads are and the snow makes
> it hard to find landmarks.
>> 
>> I hope it isnt breaking any rules for me to post here and thank you. I am
> nervous as you maybe can tell.
>> 
>> Bree
>> 
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