[NAGDU] [NAGDUDog Schedules, was, if you had a magic wand

Sat Jun 24 17:23:51 UTC 2017

Hi.

A. For the first week once you get home, do exactly what was done at the
school at exactly the same times. In the next week or two, shift the times
to fit your needs, by 5 minutes every day. For instance, if your school had
you getting up at 5:30 A.M. and you want to get up at 6:00, then subtract
5:30 from 6:00 and get 30 minutes. Divide that by 5 and you get 6. So, for 6
days change your wake-up time to 5:35, 5:40, 5:45, 5:50, 5:55, and finally
to 6:00. This will be good for you and for your dog.
B. Use your smart phone's alarms to keep you to the school schedule once
there are no longer trainers and other staff to keep on you about it, then
when shifting your times, just edit the alarms and move them in 5 minute
increments. At the end of each day adjust all of the alarm times for the
next day, the night before.
C. You can shift all events at once, or shift one then another until they
are all where you want them.
D. You should have a wake-up time, then you will feed, water and relieve the
dog right away after getting up. If your dog is very urgent, very old, or a
male, you may need to relieve then feed and water, then relieve again, but
for a young healthy dog, especially a female, this should not be necessary.
You will have a second feeding time sometime in the afternoon, at between 3
to 5 hours prior to bedtime. You will probably not have a once a day or a
three time a day feeding schedule, but if your school does it that way, you
should keep it that way for the first week or so, then you can add or
subtract one feeding, as long as you adjust the food. You will have one or
two other watering times during the day, and you will have the dog relieve
every time that it eats or drinks something. Unless your dog is ill, there
should rarely or never be a need to relieve it other than when it has just
eaten or had water, except for the last relieving of the night, which will
not include food or water.
E. Work on meshing your schedule with your dog's. For instance, for Ilsa.
She sleeps on my bed. When my alarm goes off, she licks and tramples me. I
make her stay on the bed and I shut my bedroom door and go and prep her food
and water. I let her out of my room, making her sit and stay in the doorway
until I give Ilsa her release command of "break" to go and eat her
breakfast. While she is eating I use the bathroom, wash my hands and am back
in the kitchen just in time to let her out. I put her in the backyard to
relieve while I make my coffee, take my nutritional supplements then we go
for a 30 to 60 minute walk. I give her cool water in warm weather, or a pile
of ice cubes in hot weather when we get back and relieve her, but I do not
leave her out long at all. I water her again around 2:00 P.M. and so she is
relieved at that time. I feed, water and relieve her at 5:00 P.M. and I
relieve her again, with no food and no water right before bedtime at 8:00.
We also have another one or two walks in a day other than the morning, but
depending on your life situation, you may or may not need to schedule route
work.
F. If you have a regular schedule where your dog works a lot going to and
from your job or your classes, or if you run at least one errand every day,
then scheduling routes may not be necessary. However, if you have little
routine work and you walk for exercise and to keep your dog's skills sharp,
then you will have to put this in your smart phone calendar to keep you on
track.
G. Once you have your dog and are in class, feel free to reach out to me
specifically, or to the list, generally and let us know your school schedule
and your needs, and I, or, We, could help you to set up a set of
appointments and alarms in your phone that work for you. I don't want to
seem pushy, but you expressed this as a worry and I know that your school,
and I, and many other experienced guide dog handlers would be happy to help
you if you are interested.

Heather Bird
"They came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't
a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I
wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a
Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up." -
Martin Niemöller
In our diverse society we must never fail to speak up in the face of Human
Rights violations lest we be the next targets of such violations.

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jen via NAGDU
Sent: Saturday, June 24, 2017 12:28 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Cc: Jen
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] if you had a magic wand

Hi guys,

As I said in my introductory post, I'm not a guide dog user. But I would
love to contribute to this post!

My biggest worries, if I was to get a guide dog, center around my role with
him or her.

1. I'm worried I would always forget to let my dog out!!!
2. I'm worried I couldn't find the right vet.

So if I had a magic wand, it would magically let my dog out at the right
time so I wouldn't have to worry about remembering! Also all vets would be
willing to work with a guide dog.

Jen

spiderweb1 at sbcglobal.net

-----Original Message-----

From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie Johnson via
NAGDU

Sent: Saturday, June 24, 2017 9:31 AM

To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>

Cc: Julie Johnson <julielj402 at gmail.com>

Subject: [NAGDU] if you had a magic wand

What is the biggest pain about working with a guide dog or, if you don't
have a dog yet, what is your biggest worry about getting and working a guide
dog and, if you had a magic wand and could make that problem go away, what
exactly would the magic wand  do to make the problem go away?

Just procrastinating anything productive and trying to have a little fun on
a Saturday morning!

Julie

http://www.guide-and-service-dogs.com

exhibit table C23 in Orlando!

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