[nagdu] researching programs

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Jenine,

Lucky you!  Every now and then I get hear about some issue with Mitzi that
some random observer has brought to my roommate or someone they have
identified as my friend -- which seems to mean caretaker in the observer's
mind.  We all generally find these unsolicited communications to be fairly
amusing.  I will confess, thought, that it all upsets my sense of pride in
my independence enormously.  When it comes to my roommate, my feminist side
can throw fits right along with my blind side.

When I realize I've just lost my cool and gotten all snarky and snappy with
Mitzi, I live in fear that someone will leap in to defend that adorable,
innocent creature from the mean old blind woman...  So far, what I mostly
get is warm praise for the dog or even compliements on how well we work
together.  This often so clashes with my opinion of the overall situation
that I wish they had yelled at me instead.  /smile/

As for ownership, I'm pretty firmly in the I-must-own-dog camp.  Part of it
has to do with trust -- if they don't trust me to own my guide dog, I don't
trust them, etc.  Also, I know that I can trust myself to make good
decisions for the dog and to ask for help and advice if I need to do that to
reach the best decision.  And I am the one who is right there with the dog
in the situation I need to make a decision about.  No matter how much I
trust any given school or individual to make good decisions, too, when
they're on the other side of the country trying to figure out what to do
from what I tell over the telephone or even in an e-mail, they have less
information than I do.

That being said, I will also look for good follow up from any program I
might consider in future, because I will intend to use them as my #1 go to
guys when I need someone to go to! /grin/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jenine Stanley
Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2010 5:21 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] researching programs

Oh Julie, you have that one right. I get to handle some of those calls, far
fewer than the other people in our office, but you'd be amazed at people who
will call and be so concerned about a dog yet not even consider talking with
the handler or even giving us their name. We don't accept anonymous
complaints and in most cases we do tell people who made the call about them.


Most of those calls can usually be explained by one of us without ever
talking to the grad as we know the person making the complaint simply
doesn't understand things like not being able to pet a working dog, or a
verbal or appropriate physical correction. 

Then again, for some people, being with that dog 24/7 and depending on it
for parts of their O&M can be very stressful. There will be times when you
get impatient with your dog. It will happen. What you do about it is the
difference between a good handler and someone who might need some additional
support. OK, let's face it, there are times when we all could use some
additional support. <grin> You know what I mean though. 

Jenine Stanley
jeninems at wowway.com


_______________________________________________
nagdu mailing list
nagdu at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/tamara.8024%40comcast
.net