[nagdu] Willingness to work and gender

[Toni Whaley]

Hello,

I know several people who lived and worked in the city and some of their dogs had to be retired early due to stress. I think that a lot of it has to do with the increased noise and crowds in the city. In addition, I think pedestrians and drivers have become ruder. For example, last summer I was walking down the street. I heard someone running toward me. The dog did her best to get out of the way. But he was running too fast. He knocked me down. My stuffed back pack saved me from hitting my head on the ground and getting a concussion. This person never stopped to see how I was; he just kept running. We also have people skate boarding on the sidewalks during the busiest time of the day. We've almost been run over by these idiots. Of course, these are extreme examples. I've heard some trainers say that if a dog works the city , the owner might be lucky to get four or five years of work. I've had two dogs, one male and one female,  which definitely couldn't handle the city. They especially didn't like subways even though they got through training at GEB which does training in NYC. Over time they lost their confidence. The male was returned to GEB and was retrained and sent to someone who lived in a less stressful environment. The female was also returned to GEB, but they had to release her. The head of training told me she was completely fried. 

It is hard to know whether the softness of the dogs is a major contributing factor to early retirement, because, for the most part, the harder dogs didn't work in such a crazy environment. Just my thoughts.

Toni

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Brandy Pinder
Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2014 12:08 PM
To: the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List
Subject: [nagdu] Willingness to work and gender

I have been pondering. 
Two years ago I received a poodle who after about six months showed signs of not wanting to work. He wouldn't approach curbs or objects as closely as I prefer and would stop walking in harness but as soon as I removed the harness he would walk, put it back on and he would stop. When I worked with a trainer he said the dog didn't look scared just didn't seem to want to go. I contributed it to the fact that he was a poodle and I live in new York city and travel on subways for long commute's daily. A few months after retiring him I had a friend from another school with a four year old lab have to retire her dog for the same reasons. Just recently I have spoken to someone else with a retriever that also did this. They were all males and despite what trainers say I feel that all my males have not been as forceful or confidant in guiding. They seem to suggest things whereas my females have always had this, hey dummy pay attention we are going this way attitude. However, I did no someone else who retired a female for the same reasons. Also, two of the people who's dogs decided they didn't want to work lived in urban areas and not the city. My question for the long time handlers is was this as prevalent twenty years ago. I have had dogs for fourteen years and haven't noticed this phenomenon until recently, but maybe it did happen and and I wasn't aware. I don't mean dogs not wanting to work at seven or eight, I mean three or four. Is it because our environment is crazier and people who are blind are more busy and active? Or is it because schools need to breed softer dogs for their grads for good and various reasons such as physical reasons and the public not understanding corrections? I love an easier dog to handle but is this softness interfering with work. Pinta can be a handful but i prefer some dog distractions over stopping in the middle of interections. Im not trying to start a war just wondering if this happened twenty or thirty years ago. It's just strange to me that all the dogs were different breeds living in different environments all from different schools. And for people who have had multiple dogs what is your feelings on breed? It could be total coincidence that my males were all more subtle and females more obvious. Both worked with enthusiasm but my males were just more subtle. 

brandy pinder
Alumni Council -  second vice Chairman
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc® and America's VetDogs®, The Veteran's K-9 Corps Inc® Providing "Second uSight"® since 1946

371 E. Jericho Turnpike smith town ny 11766
Cso: 866-282-8047
Email: brandydp at verizon.net
Cell: 304-685-4499
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