tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19662648.post8665418059074880525..comments2023-10-20T17:27:28.027+01:00Comments on Walking Barefoot in the Sand: "Do Not Pet Me. I Am Working."Just Jess for nowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250050080448577898noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19662648.post-67498548143187766342011-03-08T01:33:09.885+00:002011-03-08T01:33:09.885+00:00Wow. That is a huge compliment. I know a lot of pe...Wow. That is a huge compliment. I know a lot of people do it because they really don't know or understand.<br />Thanks for reading and being open to new information. :)Just Jess for nowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07250050080448577898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19662648.post-4585013707337257992011-03-08T00:38:31.054+00:002011-03-08T00:38:31.054+00:00Thanks for the good info regarding working dogs. ...Thanks for the good info regarding working dogs. I am (was) a walk by petter when I saw a working dog. Now I know better.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19662648.post-50144987786407710502011-03-07T12:18:00.173+00:002011-03-07T12:18:00.173+00:00Excellent posting. Even years ago before I knew an...Excellent posting. Even years ago before I knew anything about SDs, I would never presume to speak to or pet someone's SD. Certainly people are curious but that doesn't mean they can talk to, pet, distract etc. <br /><br />Beau is a mobility/balance dog and because he's a rescue, we are still working on socialization. So we frequent dog-friendly places and I do not put his working clothes on him. <br /><br />Actually at this point in his ongoing training, I welcome the talking, touching, petting, hand out to sniff, etc. Even when little kids run over to hug him without permission, I don't go ballistic because he needs this type of interaction. <br /><br />For now. <br /><br />This will change and most likely pretty soon within the next month or so .Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19662648.post-26553332730191699432011-03-06T17:10:20.400+00:002011-03-06T17:10:20.400+00:00L^2
I like the "ignore" word better than...L^2<br />I like the "ignore" word better than "do not pet" because as you point out, people won't pet, but they will find other ways to distract the dog. I think it's time for me to invest in a sign of some sort. I had contacted Raspberry Field to see if they could make one and they said they were in the process of doing so. I haven't heard anything else though. I may contact them again. I think you're right about restricting family/friends interacting with the dogs. I think that is something I should be more on top of. I think I will make that a goal of mine. :)Just Jess for nowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07250050080448577898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19662648.post-33423938830334218152011-03-06T16:41:36.867+00:002011-03-06T16:41:36.867+00:00Great post, Jess! The drive-by petters drive me n...Great post, Jess! The drive-by petters drive me nuts too, because it happens so quickly you can't even do anything about it. <br />I haven't noticed too much of a difference in attention levels from the general public for yellow versus chocolate, but maybe that's because brown is a fairly rare color for a working dog. Also, I think Willow got a lot of attention from people in my home area because she was the first guide dog they'd ever encountered. But after 8 years the novelty of it has worn off, so seeing Jack is not such a big deal to them. So far though, I am a lot more strict about friends and family interacting with Jack than I ever was with Willow, partly because of certain behaviors it encouraged in Willow - like the excited pulling when recognizing a friend - that I want to avoid with Jack. <br />Jack didn't wear a sign for the first four months or so, but I've just started using Willow's old harness sign on him. I bought a new insert for it though. Instead of the "Do not pet me" saying, I got "Ignore Me I am a working Guide Dog". We've only used it for a few days, but so far it seems to be yielding better results. I used to meet a lot of people with Willow who would read the sign and say, I won't pet her, but then they would proceed to do all sorts of other things to try to obtain her attention. I'm also having a purple haness sign-pouch custom-made to fit Jack's short harness handle that says "Guide Dog Do not pet or distract", in an effort to cover all our bases. :)L^2https://www.blogger.com/profile/00116360024655645948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19662648.post-85190054811879123082011-03-06T14:54:01.520+00:002011-03-06T14:54:01.520+00:00Dog Foster Mom: Theoretically he should ignore the...Dog Foster Mom: Theoretically he should ignore the doughnut. I was walking through a mall once and glacier actually kicked a doughnut and I wouldn't have known except that my friend told me. Glacier got a lot of praise that day. :) And I don't know for sure, but I am sure the Bomb sniffing dogs have the same rules. I just have decided that it is a good rule to follow that if a dog is working, don't interact with it unless you have been given permission. That would drive me nuts too if I were at the adoption events and people were feeding the dogs. So not cool! But I think you are right-people just want to connect with the dog. That just goes to show you the power of having a fuzzy one around.<br />The Blind Guy Rants: I know right?! The petters who are around the dogs on a regular basis and pet them are almost the worst kind of petters.Just Jess for nowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07250050080448577898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19662648.post-20124578629725963132011-03-06T06:56:55.061+00:002011-03-06T06:56:55.061+00:00I generally threaten the "petters" life....I generally threaten the "petters" life. It usually does the trick that or I try to seem generally grumpy and surly (which isn't much of a stretch). Actually on a serious note what I notice the most are the people who put there hands up to your dog in an attempt to get the dog to come and sniff their hand, that drives me to borderline violence. I also hate it when people who spend time with you A LOT decide that its ok to talk to or touch your dog when you are out working, like they are exempt from the rules.Kim C Hodgeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10637770254007582654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19662648.post-38557540546680731252011-03-06T05:32:10.893+00:002011-03-06T05:32:10.893+00:00I've only met a working dog once that I can re...I've only met a working dog once that I can remember - it was a bomb-sniffing dog at the airport, so I'm not sure if that's the same rule, but I would guess it is - I'd hate to have the dog miss finding a bomb because I distracted him at just the wrong time! :) I think some people just want to connect with dogs, and petting them or feeding them is the way that they know to do that. We have people feed our foster dogs at adoption events pretty often. They usually ask, but sometimes they don't, and that makes me crazy because some of the dogs have food allergies or other reasons they shouldn't have treats. Usually the people just don't realize they shouldn't feed them, but they don't know they're being rude by just doing it and not asking!<br /><br />Would Glacier really ignore a donut on the street if he was walking right by it?Dog Foster Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05397597808629183126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19662648.post-90437133468042525832011-03-06T03:50:05.367+00:002011-03-06T03:50:05.367+00:00Jen: Your example of the guy giving O.J a treat is...Jen: Your example of the guy giving O.J a treat is exactly what I mean by the "sneaky" petter. They just do whatever they want because they figure you won't call them on it. People have misconceptions about all colours of labradors. The funny thing is that you could breed two black labs and have a litter of all yellows or a litter that has all three colours in it. The different colours of labs is just that, colouring. They aren't a separate breed based on their colour.<br />Amber's Mom: I thought about getting someone to make something Glacier could wear or a different kind of sign that I could put on his harness handle. I think the "do not pet me" signs or whatever they may say, help a bit. A few of my friends have signs on the harness handles that have a hand that is crossed out. I like that idea because it is more universal. I hope you have a good weekend as well. :)Just Jess for nowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07250050080448577898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19662648.post-50982580124979233622011-03-06T01:44:22.168+00:002011-03-06T01:44:22.168+00:00Wow...I found your writing to be very interesting ...Wow...I found your writing to be very interesting as I've seen the same thing happen a lot when there is a working dog in the area. I was noticed a working guide dog in the mall that actually had on a coat that said she was working and to please let her do her job and not show her any attention. Is this something you could possibly do? It won't stop everyone but it might help to lessen the attention.<br /><br /><br />Have a nice weekend!Angels Amber and Max DaWeenie and Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14807798367609376220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19662648.post-77577041193879469892011-03-05T22:48:05.346+00:002011-03-05T22:48:05.346+00:00Excellent post!
That's very interesting how mo...Excellent post!<br />That's very interesting how more people interact with the yellow dogs than the black. I remember one day when we were training at the guide dog centre, two of us were having coffee waiting for the trainers to finish with two other students so we could go for our walks. A man came up to talk to us, and said he heard that black labs were not as placid and mild-tempered as yellow ones. I was the only owner of a black dog in the group, and although I was sure this wasn't true, I was glad when my trainer just laughed when we told her.<br />If more people pet yellow dogs than black, I never want a yello dog! People are constantly trying to pet O.J all the time!<br />He doesn't get too distracted and will quickly focus on his work again, but if people pet without asking I'll usually tell them he's working, mostly to make them feel guilty for being ignorant.<br />Someone fed him in harness for the first time ever recently, and told me he was just giving my dog a treat after he'd done it. That annoyed me more because it was like, well she won't see what I'm doing so I'll do what I want and then tell her. This would never happen to somebody who can see.Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10024951762128282021noreply@blogger.com