[NAGDU] General public advising me and Alec

[Roanna Bacchus]

Hi Andy thanks for your message. I do not think that you should take your dog to a job class in order to expose him to social siaruations. This can be done at a shopping mall or family gatherings. If you feel you need the job training, then you should go to the class.

On Feb 13, 2018 11:25 AM, "Andy B. via NAGDU" <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> 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? 
>
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