[NAGDU] convention thoughts and a huge thank you!

Tue Jul 17 10:33:26 UTC 2018

Dar,

I will always work with Jetta.  She needs exercise and deserves a chance to 
learn to be at ease when out.  However, she is no longer working as a guide 
dog.  My commitment is for the life of the dog and whatever they need. 
Right now we are working on loose leash walking, because this is something 
that got rusty with pulling into the harness.

I will get another dog, eventually, but not anytime soon.
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: Dar via NAGDU
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2018 8:55 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Dar
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] convention thoughts and a huge thank you!

Hi there,
Are you saying you need to stop working with jetta§
I am so sorry, i know you put lots of work in your ttttraining with your 
dogs.
I hope you can train another one soon if this is what you need to do.
Blessings,

Dar
Every Saint has a past,
Every sinner has a future, Sent from my iPad

> On Jul 16, 2018, at 9:09 AM, Julie Johnson via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> 
> wrote:
>
> 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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>
>
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