[NAGDU] General public advising me and Alec

[Andy B.]

Hi,

I can tell him no. We didn't go this morning, but it resulted in a call from
my VR worker on the issue. We have a meeting set up where I can hopefully
get things cleared up.


-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tami Jarvis via
NAGDU
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2018 12:30 PM
To: Andy B. via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Tami Jarvis <tami at poodlemutt.com>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] General public advising me and Alec

Andy,

Is it possible to just say no and keep saying it? In other words, will you
suffer some sort of repercussions with your agency if you don't waste your
time doing something that isn't helping you meet your goals just because
some instructor thinks he knows better than you how you should manage your
guide? By law, they're actually not allowed to make your decisions for you,
but some seem to have missed that memo.

Honestly, gide dogs do move around during long meetings. The goal of keeping
the dog quiet and still and unobtrusive, unseen and unheard if possible, is
a worthy one. But, as you say, they're not robots. And it's harder for them
when they're younger, just as it is harder for young people. Both grow up
and then grow old and tired and just sleep through meetings. /lol/

Good luck getting this resolved.

Tami



On 02/13/2018 08:25 AM, Andy B. via NAGDU 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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