[NAGDU] convention thoughts and a huge thank you!

Mon Jul 16 15:09:46 UTC 2018

It was good to see you too!  I hadn't thought that I felt I owed anyone an 
explanation, but perhaps it was there lying under the surface.  Retiring a 
dog is hard, retiring a young dog is really hard and because of my very odd 
circumstance I have done both in the past few months.  It's been a struggle 
for sure.  Perhaps I wanted to explain to end the criticism or keep it from 
starting.

I have been told that I should just get rid of Jetta and get a new dog. 
Ouch!  I have been told that I should just go through a program, with no 
inquiry of whether or not I want another dog right now.   Perhaps I'm a 
little sensitive about all of this, that could be part of it, but I do hope 
to avoid any further insensitive commentary.  Working with a guide dog is a 
personal choice and where that dog comes from is likewise a personal choice. 
I have made my choice.  Convention confirmed it very clearly for me.  I 
appreciate that you, Jenine, and others who attended convention respect my 
choice.  Not everyone has.

Julie
On The Go with Guide-and-Service-Dogs.com
http://www.guide-and-service-dogs.com
also find my products in the Blind Mice Mega Mall
<https://www.blindmicemegamall.com/bmm/shop/Directory_Departments?storeid=1916046>
-----Original Message----- 
From: Jenine Stanley via NAGDU
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2018 9:34 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Jenine Stanley
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] convention thoughts and a huge thank you!

Julie,

It was awesome to see you at convention this year and share a row with you! 
We were a couple tables down from Julie and NAGDU.

I loved getting to take your sport harness for a spin.

Please don’t think you owe anyone an explanation for why you do not have a 
guide dog right now. Believe me, we get it, and I at least, support whatever 
you choose to do.

> On Jul 15, 2018, at 9:01 AM, Julie Johnson via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> 
> wrote:
>
> Thank you to everyone who stopped by my table in the exhibit hall or who 
> attended the NAGDU seminar or board meeting.  I appreciate your  support 
> of my business, On The Go.  If you were not able to make it to the exhibit 
> hall, still have questions or I didn’t have the product you wanted, please 
> don’t hesitate to contact me.  I’m happy to help! email: 
> julielj at neb.rr.com phone/message: 402-363-8997 I’m sorry, I’m not able to 
> take calls after 7 pm central time.
>
> General convention thoughts...I thought all the dogs were really very good 
> this year.  I did not personally witness any barking, growling, lunging or 
> inappropriate relieving.   Lots of the dogs were super friendly and 
> willing to visit with their dog neighbors in the crowded exhibit hall. 
> Most handlers were aware and addressed the situation appropriately. Thank 
> you, I appreciate responsible handlers!
>
> As many of you may have noticed, I had no dog at convention this year.  I 
> anticipate this will be the case for a few years.  I appreciate that I was 
> welcomed by other guide dog users and not criticized for my lack of a 
> guide.  Here’s the situation...Monty is very close to 11.  He’s a good 
> guide and still does a good job on the short, fairly basic walks I take 
> him on.  He is considerably slower than in his youth, is very affected by 
> the heat and is not able to mentally process complex situations with the 
> same speed as in his youth.  He still enjoys guiding, as in it’s his next 
> best thing to do after eating.  So I still take him on our short walks 
> around the neighborhood because it makes him so happy.  However, I do not 
> believe it is fair to him to expect him to guide for hours at a stretch, 
> endure the heat or navigate complex situations with lots of moving 
> obstacles.  So I choose to enjoy him and what he can give while respecting 
> his advancing age.
>
> Jetta, my younger dog, is no longer working.  She has had issues with 
> other dogs for a long time.  More recently she has developed a number of 
> other fears.  She is an excellent guide in regard to the mechanics of 
> guide work, but is really not equipped to handle the stresses of the ever 
> changing environment.  I made this decision this spring and have noticed a 
> significant change in her personality and day to day stress level.  She is 
> all around happier, more at ease and I am enjoying her as a pet very much.
>
> My personal commitment to my dogs is for life, with only a very few 
> exceptions including biting, inability to provide for medical care or some 
> other pretty serious events.  I am keeping both dogs and do not wish to 
> add a third dog to my household at this time.  This, of course, means I 
> will have no guide dog for a while.  I struggled with this for months. 
> This spring was a really difficult time for me.  Then there was 
> convention.
>
> My big take away from convention this year was that while I prefer working 
> a guide dog and will definitely owner train another guide in the future, 
> now is not the right time.  My cane skills are a bit rusty, but they are 
> coming together decently.  I am not afraid to go out with my cane.  I have 
> noticed that I use auditory cues a lot more now than before dogs. 
> Convention helped me to have complete clarity that I have made the right 
> decision and am in the right place.
>
> Thanks again to everyone!  I hope to see all of you in Las Vegas next 
> year!
> Julie
> On The Go with Guide-and-Service-Dogs.com
> http://www.guide-and-service-dogs.com
> also find my products in the Blind Mice Mega Mall
> <https://www.blindmicemegamall.com/bmm/shop/Directory_Departments?storeid=1916046>
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