[nagdu] Musicians with Guide Dogs

[Rusty Perez]

Hi Rachel,
I'll add my thoughts here as well.
I'm not a classical musician, but I lead worship at church, perform in
various settings, on stages and on makeshift stages and my dog Peggy
is GREAT.
Usually, when we're on stage in front of the band she lies right down
often in front of a monitor, or near the drum set, if that's what I'm
playing, and relaxes or sleeps through it. she's used to what we do
now.
I've had her in the studio as well, but I prefer not to unless I can
take her hardware off. You can't necessarily predict or control when
they might shift or shake and the tags don't always shake in time with
the music.
If I'm recording at home I just leave her in the other room, or take
all of her stuff off. I've been known to leave her behind when I'm in
a studio some where else.

What you should also think about is the public nature of the life of a
musician. There are always adoring fans, and I don't mean yours. So
you'll need to sortof think about some ways to deal with the public.

One of the most difficult things to deal with I think is the stage.
They aren't all the same as we know, and sometimes there isn't that
much room.

Anyway, those are some thoughts.

Oh, another thought is to make sure that you can attach the dog, or
keep tabs on her. I happen to just put my foot on the leesh, or put it
around the stool or chair I'm sitting on.
My dog has been known to walk off stage to visit one of her favorite
people if I'm not careful.

Good luck!
You should get one.

rusty


On 11/14/14, Sherry Gomes via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hey Rachael,
>
> You've gotten a lot of good feedback. I used to perform quite a bit, some
> of
> that in big productions. For part of those production, involving scenes
> with
> lots of people walking and doing different things as we sang, city scenes,
> airport scenes, that kind of thing. My dog would be with me on stage, and
> she actually added to the overall scene. For other parts of the shows,
> there
> wasn't really a safe place for the dog, and where I was, there wasn't room
> for her to lie near me without being stepped on by me or others. There were
> also scenes with some dancing, and that wasn't actually easy to do with a
> dog on my arm. Grin. So, my dog stayed quietly in the director's office,
> which was secure. It worked great.
>
> There's no reason that being a musician should hinder your ability to work
> with a dog and to have your dog on stage.
>
> Sherry
> sherriola at gmail.com
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Rachel Grider
> via
> nagdu
> Sent: Friday, November 14, 2014 4:35 PM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nagdu] Musicians with Guide Dogs
>
> Hello, Everyone!
>
> I just had my home interview, but I am still concerned about a few things.
> I
> would like to hear from any musicians on this list, particularly
> professional clasical musicians. I am concerned about the practicality of a
> guide dog in rehearsals and studios. Any insight would be appreciated.
>
> I really want to get a guide dog, but I need to make sure that it would be
> the right decision for both me and the dog.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Rachel
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