[NAGDU] General public advising me and Alec

[Andy B.]

Hi,

 

I came across an interesting predicament. At this time, I am working with an
employment specialist that works for my state blind rehab agency. During our
normal mettings, he advised we attend an employment class taught by another
state agency. We agreed to attend a session or two for the general
experience. During the first session, which lasted about 1.5 hours, Alec
tended to be somewhat annoyed that people were required to get up and move
about to interact with each other during an ice breaker activity. The
conference room is small and contained about 20 people.

While everyone was sitting down during lectures, Alec whimpered every so
often. He also wanted his space and moved his back end out away from my left
side. I only assume he wanted to face the direction of the speaker. I
attempted to get him back to my left side. In most cases, it worked.
However, a few times it didn't work very well. After a point, I let him lay
where he was at the time. Besides, he wasn't bothering anyone or getting
into trouble. When the session finished, I informed the specialist that the
class probably wouldn't meet my needs, and we most likely shouldn't
continue. The employment specialist disagreed and started telling me that I
should attend the remaining 3 weeks because it is good practice for Alec to
be involved in social events such as employment class, staff meetings, job
interviews, and the like. Naturally, I agreed that Alec needed to be
involved in social events. On the other hand, seeking them out just to get
practice is not what we need right now. Alec gets enough practice in
interviews, staff meetings, and committee meetings to understand what I
expect. I attempted to explain that dogs will do what dogs do the best. The
main concern is keeping them under control at all times, not expecting them
to act like robots. He will never stay perfectly quiet during a meeting, he
will never lay down and be perfectly still like an inanimate object, and he
will most likely want to visit other people for some time. Unfortunately,
the specialist insists on the practice and doesn't understand how dog
guide/handler relationships work. What do I do to put out the burning flame
of this problem?