[NAGDU] Guide dogs and Toddlers

[marianne at denningweb.com]

I went for training with my first guide dog when my youngest son was 26
months old and his brother was 4. If you want to keep your dog from eating
food dropped by your children you will have to train the dog to leave it.
You may al so have to accept that the dog will get food once in awhile . You
can talk to the school before you go for training so they can help you work
with the dog on using faster and slower speeds. I think your dog will figure
out when to use different speeds as you work as a team. 

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Julie A. Orozco via
NAGDU
Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2023 2:11 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Julie A. Orozco <kaybaycar at gmail.com>
Subject: [NAGDU] Guide dogs and Toddlers

Hi everyone,

I came to this list a while back asking about guide dogs and babies.
Well, now I have a toddler who will be two in November. I am just about
finished with my Seeing Eye application and am hoping to get my third dog
next spring after graduating law school and taking the bar in the winter.

I wonder if anyone has any tips or experience working guide dogs with young
kids. My daughter will be almost two and a half when I'm hoping to get my
dog. At this time, she is a good walker, if a little slow, as little kids
often are. I know I will need a dog that is good with kids, but I'll also
need one that can handle the big city and the DC metro. This seems like a
tall order to me, but maybe I'm just nervous about getting a new dog.

For those of you with experience, how did you manage working your dog at
different paces depending on whether you had your children with you?

My daughter is also not terrible about dropping food, but how did you handle
dealing with your dog and a toddler dropping food? I am always really
serious about not letting my dog have table food. We don't have room for a
crate in our apartment.

My final question: is there a way you have found success in working your dog
to the playground and using the dog to track your toddler. I don't expect
the dog to find my daughter, but I've just heard from parents that they
don't like using their dog at playgrounds because it is difficult to work
around all the equipment.

To be honest, I have not heard of a lot of blind parents working
successfully with guide dogs and young kids. Most parents find it difficult
to manage both the dog and the children. But I'm getting so tired of
exclusive cane use and miss working a dog, and I am ready to to what I can
to make it work.

Thanks for any advice,

Julie

--
Julie A. Orozco
MM Vocal Performance, 2015; American University Washington College of Law,
JD Candidate 2023

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