[NAGDU] Your Favorite Dog

[Cindy Ray]

None of my guides have ever moved out of my way. It is odd to me that they don’t. You just have to observe where they usually are in relation to where you are and be careful.
Cindy
cindyray at gmail.com <mailto:cindyray at gmail.com>


> On Apr 20, 2021, at 2:15 PM, Susan Jones via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I had a Lab who wouldn't move out of my way.
> Fortunately, I got to know her sprawling places pretty quickly.
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Sharon S via NAGDU
> Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2021 9:21 AM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Sharon S <koala at areujoking.com>
> Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Your Favorite Dog
> 
> Hi, my favourite would have to be my first dog Lena. I walked her when I was
> assessed and said right then she was perfect and I wanted her. At that time
> she wasn't finished her training so they didn't know if she would make it. I
> was glad a few months later, after training with a dog that failed, I was
> matched with Lena.
> 
> Lena was one smart dog, she learnt in the early stage that I wasn't steady
> on ruff ground so if there was a short cut across grass which is the normal
> way the dogs go she wouldn't do it. Instead she turned me around and walked
> back the way we came until we were level with the path and then she turned
> down it. The trainer who was working with us at the time couldn't believe
> what he was seeing, he knows of no other dog who had ever done that.
> 
> Lena also only had to go to a place once and the next time we went there she
> knew exactly where we were going. The only down side to this was she also
> wanted the same seat as last time no matter if someone was sitting in it or
> not. She did this on the bus all the time and even though I would ask her to
> find another seat she would just stand there staring at the person wanting
> them to move. After a while most of the regulars got to know us so there
> were times when I was climbing onto the bus and I could hear someone
> explaining that that was the dog's seat so could they please move.
> 
> I worked Lena up until a few days before we had to put her down. She was ten
> and I had already started the paperwork for my next dog but she didn't last
> that long. The plan for her retirement was to become my dad's dog and since
> she was already in love with him I didn't see any problems with that.
> 
> Lena was a lab retriever cross. My second dog was a lab, my third dog was a
> golden retriever and now my new dog is a lab retriever cross but totally
> different to Lena. All through my training the trainer told me Sherlock was
> a pure golden retriever however we looked up the schools Facebook page and
> found a picture of him as a new born pup and it had his dad as a lab.
> Sherlock has the lab sort of head and my sister-in-law who works with dogs
> says he is not a pure Golden retriever.
> 
> All my dogs have been good in their own ways. My only big issue is the
> goldens don't get out of my way when I am walking around the house. Even
> when I fall over them they just look at me as if they are asking me why I
> did that. With the two labs they always moved out of my way. In fact Lena
> was so good that she knew at the blind society who could see her and who
> couldn't so she would only move out of the way for the people who couldn't
> see her and the sighted had to find their way around her.
> 
> From Shaz.
> Canberra, Australia.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Cindy Ray via NAGDU
> Sent: Saturday, 10 April 2021 11:51 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Cindy Ray <cindyray at gmail.com>
> Subject: [NAGDU] Your Favorite Dog
> 
> Good morning,
> I love to hear our stories about our dogs. So I have some questions. I will
> preface it by saying that once while I was training, probably with my first
> dog, my instructor said that he believed everyone had a favorite dog, and
> this would be true even if you truly love working with each of them. So tell
> me:
> Who was your favorite dog and why? This would include some of the little
> things that made his work so good.
> Did you train that dog? If not, from which school did it come?
> How long did you have her?
> Thank you.
> Cindy Ray
> cindyray at gmail.com <mailto:cindyray at gmail.com>
> 
> _______________________________________________
> NAGDU mailing list
> NAGDU at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NAGDU:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/koala%40areujoking.com
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> NAGDU mailing list
> NAGDU at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NAGDU:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/sblanjones11%40sbcglobal.
> net
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> NAGDU mailing list
> NAGDU at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NAGDU:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/cindyray%40gmail.com