[NAGDU] How are guide dogs receaved at national convention?

[David]

Hello Heather,

I went to my first NFB National Annual Convention last year with my 
guide, 31 month-old Claire Rose.  We'd been together less than a year.  
I thought the convention went very well for both me and my pup.  Of 
course, Claire Rose loves crowds and enjoys leading me through people.  
I think she looks at crowds as a way to prove her stuff.  We had no 
unwelcome interference from dogs or people and everyone seemed pretty 
considerate.  There are quite a few volunteers helping out.  There were 
a number of long cane users who had no idea how to use a cane, flailing 
left and right in wide arcs, totally without restraint.  After a couple 
of whacks, Claire had an eye out for them and she'd pull us over 
abruptly against a wall until we, or they, passed.  She clearly enjoyed 
the outing and we've taken more trips since then.

I'm glad we went.

David and Claire Rose in Clearwater, FL
david at bakerinet.com

On 5/22/2017 4:10 PM, Heather Bird via NAGDU wrote:
> Hello, list. I am interested in any experiences that any of you can 
> share regarding treatment of guide dogs at the NFB national 
> conventions. I have never been to an NFB National convention. I've 
> never been to an ACB national either. I have been to our New York 
> state NFB convention, and that went very well, but it was much 
> smaller, being a state convention, and from descriptions others have 
> given me, that state convention was on the small side. I think there 
> were a grand total of seven service dogs there, funnily enough, four 
> of them were ` and five of which were all from the Seeing Eye. I have 
> been given to understand that many state conventions are much, much 
> larger than ours and that national is larger still. What I am asking, 
> and what I am concerned about is how, generally, guide dogs are 
> received by the membership. I've heard a few horror stories from guide 
> dog users over the years, but as I wasn't a member of either of the 
> two major blindness organizations at the time, it all blurred together 
> and I can't recall now which stories were NFB national and which were 
> ACB national, or which were from the sixties and which from the 90s 
> on, and of course that all makes a big difference. So, I want to know 
> from any of you who have attended convention, how did people react to 
> you and your dog? If your dog misbehaved in a minor way and you 
> immediately corrected the behavior and reestablished control did the 
> other person let it go and move on, or did they get into your face or 
> gossip about you and your dog? If another service dog handler's dog 
> caused a problem for your dog, were the two of you able to work it out 
> respectfully, or did things deteriorate? If someone accidentally 
> stepped on your dog, hit them with a door or whacked them with a cane, 
> did they apologize to you and inquire if your dog was alright, or did 
> they blame you and curse you out? I'm sure that every one has had at 
> least one good and at least one bad experience, but I am interested in 
> whether the majority of the incidents were positive, or negative. When 
> a negative incident occurred was it major or minor? More importantly, 
> how was it resolved? Were you able to get help with moderate to major 
> problems from your mentor, your chapter or affiliate leader or another 
> person in authority? Were concerns over any incidents taken seriously, 
> or brushed aside or was there victim blaming? I like to think that I 
> am a great handler. I know that I am a good handler, and I think I can 
> say that I am a great handler. Perfect? No, the best? again, no, but 
> pretty darn competent and responsible. Ilsa is an excellent dog, but 
> she is also pretty young. She will be about two and a half at the time 
> of national. Realistically I know that she is likely to misbehave in 
> very tiny ways, very frequently, but never or only extremely rarely in 
> a more serious way. She is quick to sniff or wine or to start pulling 
> my arm off, lots of energy, but she is also very quick to be corrected 
> or re-directed, often purely verbal and she has no serious issues such 
> as dog aggression, relieving accidents outside of illness, barking, 
> etc. Any information, experience, feedback or wisdom that y'all can 
> share would be very much appreciated.
>
> Thanks much.
>
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