[NAGDU] Dogs and National Conventions

[Kevan Worley]

I look forward to the thoughts of others with regard to relief areas. I also suggest that we, the guide dog handlers should take more responsibility for the relief areas. I don’t know what that would look like. But I would be interested in ideas, and thoughts. My guess is that our president and board Are all over this

At Your Service,
Kevan Worley

> On Apr 28, 2022, at 2:42 PM, Diane Graves via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Wow!. Thanks to all of you for all of this great insight and information! This is really helpful. I am also gratified to learn that I am not as much "the lone ranger" as I thought I was. I was 54 years old when I was matched with Izzo. I thought that was perhaps one reason that the learning curve had been so steep and why the instructor was so condescending. 
> What can you tell me about the relief areas? Kevan mentioned that he found them challenging. Is this because there are so many other dogs, or because ther are people who aren't cleaning up after the dogs and leaving a lot of "land mines" to find? LOL I've just never worked with one of these at a convention before, so want to know what I should expect.
> 
> Diane Graves
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Kevan Worley via NAGDU
> Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2022 10:25 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Kevan Worley <kevan at nfbco.org>
> Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Dogs and National Conventions
> 
> I will answer here. But I wouldn’t go by me and my guide dog. Onyx There’s not muc is not much of a sniffer. And she works particularly well in big crowds. She has been to three conventions. I would not leave her at home. But that’s because she is a real asset for me at convention. I know that many dogs are not particularly good at conventions. And I knew some people who leave their dogs at home. I also know a few people who use their dogs some at conventions and leave their dogs in their rooms at convention if the dog is good at staying in a room without distraction or barking their heads off to annoy everybody around your room. That’s all I know I think I’m very lucky to have a dog that works so well at a convention. I I do find relief areas a huge challenge at convention. Frankly I try to find somewhere even if it’s somewhat of a distance from the hotel to relieve onyx. We ought to do something different with relief areas.
> 
> At Your Service,
> Kevan Worley
> 
>> On Apr 28, 2022, at 5:46 AM, Diane Graves via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Greetings NAGDU Friends,
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I have a couple of questions that I want to pose, and I want to post 
>> them separately to be sure nothing gets lost in translation as they 
>> are both very important to me. True to the subject line, I want to 
>> start with a question about national convention.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> My girl has never been to a national convention. We've been together 
>> almost five years but this will be her first convention. She is a major "sniffer"
>> and is easily distracted by other dogs. I have been working with her 
>> to try to get her acclimated to the gentle leader, rewarding her with 
>> a treat when I put it on, but she absolutely hates it. (She loves the 
>> treats, of course.) After having the leader  on for just a minute or 
>> two, she starts rubbing her face on me and everythin surrounding her 
>> trying to get it off. A little embarrassing, not to mention the fact 
>> that I have to wonder how much she is really paying attention if she is doing that.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> This will be my first year serving as President of the Indiana 
>> affiliate, and I'm not exactly sure yet what all of my 
>> responsibilities will be while at the convention. I hate the tought of 
>> leaving my girl behind, but don't want it to be overly taxing and/or 
>> stressful for either of us. So. my question is this.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> How many of you take your dogs with you to convention, and how many of 
>> you elect not to do this? If you have a partner who is a major 
>> "sniffer" and loves to meet and greet other dogs, how do you deal with these things?
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Any feedback appreciated.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Diane Graves
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
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