[nagdu] {nagdu} guide dog in high school

[Lyn Gwizdak]

Rebecca,
Your reasons for not having a guide dog are very valid.  People are ALWAYS 
asking my sister why she doesn't have a dog as they look at me with my dog. 
She says that she doesn't want the responsibility.  She also has 
developmental disability and can barely care for herself - never mind a dog.

I sometimes see people who do have guide dogs and they don't want to do what 
it takes to do right by the dog - work and care.  A dog isn't right for 
everyone, period.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  After all, you are 
still caring for an animal's needs and that's not for all people - whether 
we are talking about service dogs or pet dogs - a dog is a dog.  It is a 
lifestyle and it is a choice.

I was 22 when I got my first guide dog.  I can see where it could be touogh 
to get a guide dog while in high school. You have to deal with alot of 
immature kids and sometimes the blind kid doesn't want another thing to make 
him/herself stand out even more than the blindness.  Sometimes peer pressure 
will make a high school guide dog handler refrain from doing what is best 
for their training.  things like correcting the dog or telling folks that 
they can't feed or play with the dog while it is working.  I'm glad I didn't 
have a dog while in high school.

But there are also kids who do well with a dog in a high school environment 
and that is good.

Lyn and Landon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC)" <REBECCA.PICKRELL at tasc.com>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2012 7:09 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] {nagdu} guide dog in high school


> Danielle,
> Why do you want a dog when you're in high school? I'm curious and also 
> nosy.
> How do you think a dog will help you?
> You may want to read the book Light A Single Candle. It's a bit out of 
> date now, but the emotions surrounding bringing a dog home are very much 
> on point.  It's about a high school girl that got a dog.
> I got my first dog a month after I finished high school.
>
> I am no longer using a dog, and I don't know if I will again.
>
> I was talking about this with my mom recently and when I told her I may 
> never go back to a dog, she asked why. I told her that I love not needing 
> to take the dog's needs into account. I don't know what that says about 
> me. I like dogs.  If I could borrow one, I think I'd be fine with the 
> needs.  I just have no desire to fit a guide into my life and do so ona 
> 24/7 basis.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf 
> Of Tracy Carcione
> Sent: Friday, July 13, 2012 10:02 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] {nagdu} guide dog in high school
>
> There was a 16-year-old student in my first class at GDB.  She did fine in
> class, but I heard she returned the dog in less than a year.  I heard she
> got a lot of the "Does the dog have to come?" stuff from her family, and
> the dog didn't get enough work.  I got some of that same stuff from my
> family, but I was older and would stand up to them, and also mostly not
> living at home, so it didn't really matter. I felt bad for her.
> Tracy
>
>
>
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