[NAGDU] dog names

Fri Oct 19 18:16:48 UTC 2018

Kerri:

I was lucky to have good names.  There is the downfall of having a guide 
with people names.  With Heidi, Pattie, Tara and Eva I have often had girls 
and women turn around and ask how I know them because I had said their name. 
I just smile and tell them I was not talking to them but talking to my guide 
dog.

My shepherd Heidi was definitely more of a one person dog than my overly 
friendly retrievers.  Heidi was an extremely fussy eater.  It took me a few 
months to figure out what to feed her.  Finally I got her to eat Iams mini 
chunks with a can of Mighty Dog Beef.  I had to mix it well or else she 
would pick out the meat and leave the kibble.  She was a very slow eater. 
She would lye down with the bowl between her front paws picking out one 
piece of food at a time.  Heidi was all business when working with no 
attempts to play with people or other distractions.  I have heard trainers 
say that the shepherds do have a strong work ethic.  That is not to say the 
retrievers don't but they do tend to be distracted by people, dogs, cats, 
squirrels, and birds.  My lab was almost impossible with her tendency to 
scavenge anything she could grab when working.  My goldens worst problem is 
wanting to play with people.

Unfortunately Heidi had to retire when she was only five years old.  After 
frequent attacks by an extremely aggressive shepherd guide dog in my 
apartment building Heidi began to exhibit fearful barking and growling at 
other dogs.  In poor Heidi's defense the first attack happened our first 
night home from class.  That first weekend that other guide dog attacked 
Heidi at least 7 times.  I brought Heidi home just before Thanksgiving so 
could not get ahold of her trainer until that following Monday.  By then 
poor Heidi was so frightened the trainer said it would be a miracle if we 
could get her not to be afraid of other dogs.  At that time I lived in New 
York city and lived in a building for the blind and disabled so there were 
always other guide dogs to frighten Heidi.  I worked very hard with the 
trainers and an animal behavior specialist without much success.  Things got 
much worse after I was mugged in the subway while returning home from a late 
choir rehearsal.  After that Heidi would bark and growl if anyone got too 
close to us.  Heidi began to suffer from skin problems as well as digestive 
issues as a result of the stress.  Finally the guide dog school, my vet and 
I made the difficult decision to let her retire.  It was a real shame 
because even though she was stressed out her guide work and behavior were 
excellent.  The trainers told me that shepherds are more likely to exhibit 
aggressiveness and over protectiveness than the retrievers.

Yes, I did have a lot of golden retrievers.  My two males were very hard 
pullers which aggravated an old back injury.  When I got Heidi in 1983 the 
trainers decided I would be much better with the smaller more gentle female 
dogs.  I had always requested a golden until I found myself out late in New 
York city taking classes, choir rehearsals and concerts, opera workshops and 
performances.  I had been mugged with my golden so I thought the local thugs 
would be more afraid of a shepherd.  Unfortunately that was the case most of 
the time but not always.  Some thugs are not afraid of anything so my little 
shepherd and I fell victim to their actions.  After Pattie who was a small 
lab but somewhat stubborn the trainers and I decided that a gentle female 
golden would be easier for me to handle.  I have multiple sclerosis which 
effects my strength and stamina, especially with a puller or a dog that 
requires corrections.  Fortunately I moved out of the city in 1988 so I was 
not afraid to walk around with a cute fuzzy golden.

Kerri, I hope you get your shepherd.  You will love their intelligence and 
strong work ethic.  Whatever dog you get, I am sure you will have a great 
time on class and for many years.  Good luck and I cannot wait to hear all 
about your new furry partner.

Sandra and Eva
SLJohnson25 at comcast.net
-----Original Message----- 
From: Kerri Sprecher via NAGDU
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2018 11:22 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Kerri Sprecher
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] dog names

Aww, Sandra those sound like awesome doggies. You got a lot of goldens 
didn't you? And how was your shepherd at guiding and being friendly or 
reserved with people? I know they're different but I'm hoping for one and 
expressed that to TSE, so I was just wondering how that experience was. I 
hear they are sometimes picky eaters, but not all. And I also hear that they 
have a great work ethic and love their work and are sometimes reserved 
naturally with unknown people. But I love all those names. :)

Sent from my iPad

> On Oct 18, 2018, at 6:32 PM, Sandra Johnson via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> 
> wrote:
>
> Hello:
>
> Rox, I like your thought in choosing names for your dogs.  You pick 
> something that fits their personality.  I also think this is a fun topic. 
> I am always afraid that I will get a dog with a weird name.  In my 43 
> years of guide dogs I have had some good names.  I started with male 
> golden retrievers Hogan and Rusty.  Then there was female shepherd Heidi 
> and black lab Pattie.  Those dogs were followed by female golden 
> retrievers Taffy, Cinnamon,  Sunny, Tara and current guide Eva.
>
> I loved them all, even those who had to retire after being with me for a 
> short time due to health issues.  Sending the dogs to a new home was 
> always very difficult.  I kept them with me as long as possible so I did 
> not have a long time without a dog even if they were a pet instead of 
> guiding.  I just could not bear having an empty apartment without a dog to 
> love and cuddle. I always got excited going to class for my new guide.  I 
> am one of those people who fall in love instantly with my new dog.  Good 
> luck to anyone who is or who soon will be beginning a new partnership. 
> Hug all of your wonderful guides.
>
> Sandra and Eva
>
> -----Original Message----- From: The Pawpower Pack via NAGDU
> Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2018 6:22 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Cc: The Pawpower Pack
> Subject: Re: [NAGDU] dog names
>
> I always love this topic... because I name my own dogs so I always need 
> ideas.
> My current guide and sidekick is Soleil which is French for sun. She is 
> called that because she is the happiest, friendliest, most cheerful dog I 
> have ever met... ever.  She just reminded me of a sunny day. She is also 
> named Soleil for the Cajun Zydeco band Beau Soleil.
> My current headache-- uh, I mean Service Dog In Training-- Rowan was not 
> actually going to be a service dog. I first took her in as a foster dog 
> from my local shelter-- I'm a foster parent for several shelters. Her name 
> at the time was Roxy. My name is Rox'E, said like Roxy and as much as I 
> was willing to change my name to Sophia, it would be expensive and 
> time-consuming, so it was easier to change her name to Rowan.  She was 
> named for Rowan from the book Children of Eden by Joey Graceffa and for 
> characters named Rowan in books written by Anne McCaffrey and Sarah J. 
> Maas. Interestingly after I named her I also found out she was born under 
> the sign of the Rowan in Celtic Astrology so it must have been meant to 
> be.
>
> My puppy that I'm hopefully getting in April of next year if Mom and Dad 
> dog can align their metaphorical stars will be called Phoenix because I 
> love Harry Potter, and because the breeder's first guide dog was Phoenix 
> and I wanted to honor her.
> It will be interesting to read all the answers to this question
>
>
> Rox and the kitchen Bitches:
> Soleil, Rowan pawpower4me at gmail.com
>
>> On Oct 18, 2018, at 3:32 PM, Kerri Sprecher via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> 
>> wrote:
>>
>> Hey there everyone,
>> Since I've been thinking about this whole upcoming class thing, of 
>> course, dogs' names have been going through my mind, which ones would be 
>> cool names, odd names, just plain crazy names, and really cutesy names. I 
>> have had Darrell, a yellow lab from TSE, Rosco, a TSE golden, and Sadie, 
>> my pilot dog retiring Saturday. How about y'all? My husband likes dog 
>> names that are actually names that are mainly people names, like our 
>> chihuahua, Reba, named after Reba Mackentire. lol. What are some dog 
>> names that you have either had for yourself, guides or pets, or that you 
>> have heard about others' dogs, guides and pets alike? Kind of a fun topic 
>> I think.
>> I have heard of a Cupcake, Violet, Dania, Elsa, , and Adora, just to name 
>> a few.
>>
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
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