[NAGDU] Guide Dogs and Office Jobs

[Julie McGinnity]

Hi all,

I hope everyone had a happy New Year and is staying warm.

I wonder if anyone else has dealt with the combination of a highly
energetic dog, an office job, and a routine that doesn't allow for as
much travel as you would like.  Well, that's my situation.  I work 8-5
here, and I mostly stay in my office.  Bill does well in my office.
He has his own bed, and I've brought a bone and a toy for him to chew
on.  He listens pretty well at work and doesn't display very many
undesirable behaviors, other than attempting to get my attention when
someone calls or comes in my office.

At home though, I'm slightly ashamed to admit he can be quite a pill.
He tends to grab things that don't belong to him and run with them
under the coffee table.  He has even been testy about food by sniffing
at my roommate when she is at the table.

I do not give him people food.  I have recently puppy-proofed the
house, and that has helped some.  When I first got him, he displayed
some of these behaviors, and the school recommended I find toys he
could have, that i could give him when he grabbed something I didn't
want him to take.  The idea was that if he took a paper towel, for
example, I would take that out of his mouth and exchange it for a
bone.  I wouldn't say anything, just do the exchange and walk away.

The difficulty with this dog is that he feeds off of attention.
Negative, positive, it doesn't matter.  He soaks it up and treats it
all as positive, unless he really knows he's done something wrong, and
that is very rare.

My instinct tells me that he is restless and bored.  He doesn't get
enough work, and although he has structure, he doesn't have enough to
focus on.  I am doing what I can to change this.  It's winter, so I'm
not really wanting to walk outside as much as I would in the spring.
I'm working on a lot outside of work, but unfortunately that stuff
requires me to sit still.  We should get some more freedom next month
to get out more.  But until then, I wonder if you have any ideas or
have experienced anything like this.  At home I allow him to follow me
around, and that seems to help.  I know tie-down may solve some of
these problems, but I don't think tying him down would get at the root
of the problem.

His work has improved since last I wrote.  I'm honestly not sure what
happened last summer, but he definitely seems eager to guide, and his
confidence is right back where it's supposed to be.  This dog has
always been a little tough to entertain, and though I understand this,
I don't want it to be an excuse for his misbehaving.


-- 
Julie A. McGinnity
MM Vocal Performance, 2015; President, National Federation of the
Blind Performing Arts Division