[nagdu] just a couple of additional comments about the 9-year-oldboy and his guide dog

Tue Feb 9 17:15:58 UTC 2010

Whew!  I was so busy being mortified at my sweet precious angel around all
those "real" guide dogs that I didn't even know she wasn't the other snarker
there.  /grin/  Still, I'm glad she seems to have given up the practice.
Then again, she's probably simply saving it all up for a special occasion.
/smile/

She was also the only poodle guide at convention and very noticeable in her
shiny velvet coat and fire engine red sport harness.  So I would have people
with some sort of vision come up to me and say kindly, "I noticed you're
having trouble with your dog.  I was on the other side of the hotel and
saw..."  /lol/  I got some really good advice that way, much of which I have
used since, but I did start to feel overly conspicuous.  Then there was the
evening at the outdoor lounge over drinks and teasing when one of them took
that one sip too many and decided to give the play by play report of Mitzi's
absolutely worst act of snarkage.  I'm pretty much sure that people on the
other side of Dallas know all about it now.  Then again, the retelling was
pretty funny, and I nearly hurt myself laughing.  By the fifth time through,
I was having to work the laughter a bit, but she kept expanding on the tale,
so I can't say I wasn't entertained.  /grin/  I always enjoy a good round of
friendly ribbing even when it's my turn to be ribbed.

Ah, well.  If my dog weren't giving people such good fodder to my teasing
friends, I would just have to go out and do it myself.

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Tracy Carcione
Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2010 7:21 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] just a couple of additional comments about the
9-year-oldboy and his guide dog

Sure Tami, "real" guide dogs *never* get excited when they meet another
guide dog!  (Gee, how many corrections did I give Ben when we first got to
the Seeing Eye reunion? Luckily he settled down after a few minutes.)
Tracy

> Charlene,
>
> Wow!  Thank goodness for those changes!  I'm sure the Seeing Eye has grown
> with the rest of us. /smile/  In some respects, they helped lead the way
> through their dogs and graduates.
>
> So now it seems shocking that the very thought of providing a blind child
> the means to travel independently would raise such an uproar.  I am glad
> for
> Tim that his parents supported him as they did and that their heretical
> approach turned out so well for them all.
>
> It always seems odd now to encounter those last vestiges of the old
> attitudes toward blindness.  With owner training, it's "they let you do
> that?"  Or, better yet, "I can't believe they would let you do that!"
> Time
> for patient education from me.  /smile/
>
> And the old standby, "How does she know when to cross the street, since
> dogs
> are color blind and she can't see when the light is green."  Whoever hear
> hasn't heard some version of that one, please raise your hand.  /lol/
>
> Awhile back, I did spend some time answering a serious of questions like,
> "Do let you people cook for yourselves?"  and the like.  I guess I'm used
> to
> that sort of thing now, so I just answered them as best I could while
> attempting to subtly emphasize that we people don't need permission from
> the
> notorious They.  I did have to stifle the giggles a few times as the
> questions continued, though.  The poor guy asking them was genuinely
> curious
> and, by his tone and what I could catch of his body language, trying to
> hard
> to be tactful in how he asked them.  His inquisitiveness has enabled him
> to
> learn, at the very least, that They let Us People do all sorts of things
> that he found very surprising.
>
> Actually, there are some Theys hereabouts would rather not let Us People
> train our own dogs and have been known to inform evil renegades like
> myself
> just how many crimes I am committing by doing so!  How is it that, while
> the
> majority of our society has come so very far, while so many people who are
> employed in some facet of better enabling us to live up to our new status
> as
> almost citizens are so far behind.  It's baffling.  I'm curious to see
> what
> happens around here when the old guard in VR begins to retire and a new
> generation takes their place.  I think that's already begun to happen at
> GDB
> here, probably from before I moved into their neighborhood and started
> going
> about with my unauthorized dog.  /smile/  They're still officially  not
> keen
> on owner-training, which makes sense to me from their point of view.  But
> I
> do think that when I get around to going out there for a visit just so I
> can
> see what's what, I'm not terribly likely to be stoned when I blurt out my
> confession.  /grin/
>
> Whether I will take the evidence of my life of crime with me, I haven't
> decided yet.  It probably depends on how many more successful encounters
> we
> have with other guide dogs in our regular travels and activities.  I want
> to
> be very sure Mitzi is comfortable with the notion that another guide dog
> team is nothing to get excited about before I take her into a big group of
> trainees!  /smile/
>
> Tami Smith-Kinney
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Charlene Ota
> Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 11:55 AM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: [nagdu] just a couple of additional comments about the
> 9-year-oldboy and his guide dog
>
> After seeing some of the comments, I just wanted to add a couple of things
> about this situation that might be interesting and might clarify.
>
> When I spoke with Tim about this experience, I could sense that it was a
> very important part of his growing up years and is a very vond memory.
> It's
> kind of like he speaks of it with great pride and fondness. It meant a lot
> to him that I asked about it and wanted to share it with the list.
>
> I think for much of this country, the philosophy about kids traveling
> independently, whether with a cane or a dog was very different 50 years
> ago.
> I hessitated to add one of Tim's comments, but decided to share it because
> it just shows how different philosophy was at that time, not to start any
> arguments or offend anyone. When Tim's Mom was looking into getting Tim
> the
> dog, she called The Seeing Eye for their suggestions or feedback and they
> told her she should basically be put away for even allowing her child to
> travel independently. I just share this to say that we have come a long
> way
> today, I don't share it as an example of Seeing Eye's current philosophy.
>
> Tim is a unique person with a unique experience that I feels hould be a
> part
> of the history of traveling with guide dogs. It's not really about whether
> kids should have dogs as I also agree it's probably not something for most
> kids but it was very visionary of this Dr. Ford to have thought about it
> and
> given it a try and much more so back in the 50's. It's a good thing that
> we
> always have people who are thinking outside the box and trying new things
> and going in new directions. somethings they're successful, somethings
> it's
> just a learning experience and even then sometimes someone still benefits
> from it.
>
> ALoha,
> Charlene
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