[NAGDU] Guide Dogs and Babies

Sandra Gayer sandragayer7 at gmail.com
Wed Jul 14 15:35:39 UTC 2021


Hello Julie,
Many many congratulations! I have no useful advice whatsoever as I do
not have children and have never had a guide dog. I hope it all fits
into place for you. It's fabulous news!

Very warm wishes,
Sandra.

On 7/14/21, Star Gazer via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 				You’ve gotten some good suggestions.
> My dog was a rock star when I was pregnant with my first. Unfortunately, she
> wasn’t happy once the baby was here which earned her a career change.
> She didn’t hurt the baby, she just wasn’t happy guiding, she’d run me into
> things, pooped on the floor, woke me up just as I’d fallen asleep that sort
> of thing.
> I’m not sure there is much you can do, some dogs (and this applies to pet
> dogs too) adjust and some don’t.
>
> There is a reason you see and hear of people looking for new homes for pets
> once a baby happens, very few of them say “aww, f**ck it, I don’t want this
> dog anymore”.
>
> Whatever happens, things will be fine.
> The dog that wasn’t happy with my baby died about ten years ago after living
> her last few years as a beloved pet.  That baby is now a teenager and loves
> dogs.  We adopted a pet dog a couple years ago largely at her request and
> she’s been wonderful with him.  She’s deeply interested in dogs and how they
> help with ptsd as well as dogs assisting with search and rescue. She loves
> pit bulls who are one most misunderstood and mistreated breeds acording to a
> friend of mine.
>
> This may not be what you want to hear. All I can say is that success has a
> broad definition.
>
> I don’t use a dog anymore and I don’t miss it.  If you had told me this
> would happen when I was pregnant with my first, I would have told you you
> were crazy. What I found for me was that the kid architecture and the guide
> dog architecture didn’t integrate well. The dog wants to work but it’s butt
> cold out, too cold for you to want to take the baby out.  While the school
> solution is “have the fiancé help” that may not be what you want to do. You
> may *want* to be snuggled up with the baby.
>
> As your kid gets older they may develop interests that are easier to do
> without a guide dog.
>
> I found maintaining the dog’s schedule very difficult.  Doing anything with
> kids takes a very long time, it is an experience v. a task. Much of what you
> do is about bonding… when my son was a baby, I used to tell him I was
> getting him ready for prom when I was bathing him.  It was fun to say and is
> one of those things that makes no sense.  My preschooler would hang out with
> me during bath time and one day she asked “Is he going to prom tonight?” and
> then she and I talked about what prom was.  It was fun.
> Even going out is more about the experience, taking a kid to eat ice crem at
> mcdonald’s can take a good hour, the ketchup dispenser is new, everybody
> there is there to eat but that doesn’t mean they all want to interact, the
> world is literally a new place for them every day.
>
> As kids get older you switch from physical tasks to emotional ones.  I can
> remember explaining tort law to one of my kids at 9”30 at night one evening.
> Yes, I could have put the discussion off, but we were rolling so why stop?
>
> A lot of this will make emotional sense when you get there. People speak of
> babies and children like objects “take the kids to the library” “bring the
> baby with you” “leave the baby” “get help with the baby” just like they
> speak of luggage or a house project.  That’s not how you feel, it’s just the
> language we use and language is powerful.
>
>
> Deffinately talk with women who have fulfilled what you want to do. Maybe
> things will work the way you want. The worst that can happen is you think
> “this was a dumb idea” and then you do something else.
> Sent from Mail for Windows 10
>
> From: Julie McGinnity via NAGDU
> Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2021 6:29 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Cc: Julie McGinnity
> Subject: [NAGDU] Guide Dogs and Babies
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm not trying to be cute, though I suppose the subject line is pretty
> adorable. My fiance and I are expecting a baby in November, our first
> baby. I am, of course, excited and terrified all at once. My current,
> second, dog is 9 years old and going relatively strong. He seems
> unphased by all the changes that have happened thus far. He is a big
> yellow labrador who clings to me pretty fiercely. Although I'm not
> concerned he will hurt the baby, I am hoping I can find ways to make
> the changes easier for him. I just moved, so we are learning a new
> area. I am sensitive to his age and want to take care with him as much
> as possible.
>
> I have a couple of questions:
>
> Have any of you successfully gone through big transitions with older dogs?
>
> I've heard that some guide dog handlers cannot work their dogs after a
> certain point in their pregnancies? Is this common? My dog is large
> with a strong pull, but he has slowed down a little bit in the last
> year, though nothing I can't or don't want to work with.
>
> Are there ways I should be preparing my dog for baby's arrival? Are
> there ways I should introduce him to the baby? Are these questions
> silly? Lol
>
> I plan on babywearing as much as possible and figure I can do this
> with a dog. Are there baby carriers that make working a dog easier?
>
> Ok, I think that's all for now. Thank you so much for any responses.
>
> Julie
>
>
>
> --
> Julie A. McGinnity
> MM Vocal Performance, 2015; American University Washington College of
> Law, JD Candidate 2023
>
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