Peng1zrule Posted January 13, 2004 Posted January 13, 2004 Hello all! today, I am so excited...I was sitting there, in psychology of personality, new semester, all keyed up to learn, and I'm thinking of my dogs, so I'm hearing tags jangling and a nose sniffing...then I realized it was REAL. There was a dog in class. I dared to turn around...his poor owner (a legally blind woman) was yanking his harness, because Max, (the guide dog) had his nose shoved down the front of my book bag, sniffing whatever dog smells there were left in there. She finally had to pop his choke collar to get him away from me (I swear I didn't touch him, or talk to him, he was just interested in my stuff) after she sat down, I asked her name, his name, and got to pet him. She had to remove his "uniform" (his harness) and then he just leaned into me. he and sandy look so much the same...they're both labrador mixes, and she called him a golde-dor. She had to fly to florida to pick him up, what a LOVE he was, though! He slept throughout class and even had a dream and started wuffing in the middle of a CNN video...suddenly, psych is my FAVORITE class...a dog in there just makes the whole room more friendly, even if I can't touch him for most of it....I did miss my dogs a whole lot everytime I looked at him, though... Quote
mouseatthebusstop Posted January 13, 2004 Posted January 13, 2004 thats loverly thanks for shareing Quote
Guest Mutts4Me Posted January 13, 2004 Posted January 13, 2004 Cool :) My junior year of college, Lindsay - the girl across the hall from me in the dorms - had tunnel vision, so she had a guide dog named Gretchen, who's a yellow lab. My roommate and I became good friends with Lindsay, and therefore Gretchen. It was awesome to have a dog in the dorms, we could just walk across the hall and play with the dog :D We baby-sat her a few times, too, when Lindsay needed to go somewhere without the dog. Gretchen was a horrible guide dog. It came from having a seeing owner, I guess, because Lindsay often lead Gretchen where she needed to go, instead of the other way around, so Gretchen's lessons kind of drifted away... she started pulling more, moving towards other dogs (and people who smelled like dogs), cutting in front of people, and blurring the line between work and leisure. We went out a lot with Lindsay, and Gretchen always ended up laying in an aisle in everyone's way, and snoring. I never actually had a class with Lindsay, but enough restaurants and movies had me convinced that Gretchen would probably be a spectacle, lol. On the other hand, my roommate had several classes with another woman with a service dog, and this one was always very attentive and quiet. Incidentally, Lindsay knew who my friend was talking about when she mentioned this other pair... because Gretchen had tried to play with the other dog several times in chance meetings ;) Quote
courtnek Posted January 14, 2004 Posted January 14, 2004 a properly trained guide dog will not respond to treats, dogs, other people, or anything else, without the owners permission - but since she is leading Gretchen, instead of vice-versa, she kinda rearranged his training. Quote
Guest Mutts4Me Posted January 14, 2004 Posted January 14, 2004 courtnek napisał(a):a properly trained guide dog will not respond to treats, dogs, other people, or anything else, without the owners permission - That's why I said she was a horrible guide dog ;) But it wasn't her fault. It was just sad (and morbidly amusing) to watch them, Gretchen pulling on her harness like a "normal" dog might pull at her leash. A good guide dog, given to a blind person, must keep their training sharp in their mind. They are made to practice this every day because there is no other option - their owner is blind. So they are able to function in a way that utilizes and explands upon their training. Gretchen was indeed properly trained, but she had the misfortune of being given to a seeing person. It's just not the same when the person doesn't have to totally rely on the dog and often makes decisions for the dog. Crossing the street when the human knows it is safe - not when the dog decides that it is, leading the dog through the dorm cafeteria by the leash, the human weaving her own way through a busy sidewalk, a general lack of discipline... all that lead to Gretchen being a great dog, but a horrible guide dog. Lindsay got a guide dog because her condition will eventually lead to her going blind, and the intention was to be used to the guide dog by then. But when that happens, Gretchen's going to be totally unsuitable as anything but a pet, unless she is completely retrained. Ohhh... I went to Lindsay's wedding this fall, and Gretchen walked down the aisle with the Maid of Honor. She had white flowers all over her harness, it was beautiful. I'm supposed to get pictures at some point, I'll be sure to show you guys when I do :) Quote
courtnek Posted January 14, 2004 Posted January 14, 2004 :lol: if she IS going to at some point go totally blind, she needs to look into retraining....Gretchen wont be able to help her like this... I am a diabetic, I may very well go blind one day. I would hope I could not be "alpha" about my Guide Dog...I've been Alpha so long with dogs it would be a hard transition... :) Quote
Guest Mutts4Me Posted January 14, 2004 Posted January 14, 2004 courtnek napisał(a):if she IS going to at some point go totally blind, she needs to look into retraining....Gretchen wont be able to help her like this... The problem is... none of us are sure that Lindsay's entirely aware of the fact that Gretchen is basically ruined as a guide dog. That's where the "morbidly amusing" part of watching them at work comes in. She goes about it like it's normal, but we (watching from a more objective position) constantly wince or snicker (I usually wince, my friend tends to snicker) as Lindsay perhaps unconsciously struggles to maintain control... Of course, she's not entirely oblivious. I remember agreeing to meet Lindsay at a restuarant down the road, because she was coming from class in the opposite direction. As we were walking towards the restrauant, we stopped Lindsay and Gretchen about to cross the street, and on the other side of the street, heading in their direction, was a couple walking their cocker spaniel. We looked at each other in horror, and watched as the inevitable happened. The couple politely steered their dog to the opposite side of the sidewalk to allow Lindsay and Gretchen a wide berth, but Gretchen decided she might like to follow the spanial and actually attempted to turn Lindsay around after it! It was a messy spectacle, and by the time they made it across the street, we were waiting for them, giggling hysterically. Couldn't help ourselves. And Lindsay had this "I know, I know..." look of embaressment on her face. So she knows... but I don't think she really knows. Quote
imported_Kat Posted January 14, 2004 Posted January 14, 2004 Aww what a nice change from a boring lecture. In my 2nd year of uni we had to do a seminar presentation on a topic of our choice, so I did an idiots guide to dog training...complete with a Meg that I sneaked into uni with a huge group around us to conceal her. She lay under the table at the back of the room for an hour quiet, and then when it was my turn I got up and went to the front and loaded my powerpoint presentation. I started talking then whistled and the ones that didn't know about Meg were gasping hehe. She came bounding to the front of lecture theatre and was very pleased to be in the company of everyone :D When I've had kittens and pups to rear they have always came to my lectures with me too. The lecturers are used to me and my critters by now :wink: Quote
courtnek Posted January 14, 2004 Posted January 14, 2004 I got to do that a long time ago in high school, with Taurus, my Golden Retriever. It was also a training presentation, and he was always a good dog (except when he decided to escape the yard and wander around the neighborhood on occasion). I had asked the teacher if I could bring my dog in for the presentation, and I think she was expecting a small animal. She was quite shocked at my 100 lb fuzzball....walking calmly on a lead and doing as he was told, even though all he wanted to really do was go out into the classroom and get petted by everyone....big baby....after the presentation she let me take him desk to desk so everyone could greet him. Some of the kids were kinda afraid, cuz he was so big, and he always seemed to know that. He would sit down in front of them and put his head in their laps, and look as sad as possible until they petted him. It was pretty funny. Big baby.... :lol: Quote
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