# All about guide dogs

Category: Let's talk

## Post 1 by chiefers (Newborn Zoner) on Friday, 29-Aug-2003 20:58:55

Hi, i want to start a thing about guide dogs, what we love about them the trials and the tribulations, the good and the bad. geting your first or your 5th. Join me and my black lab Chief on this wonderful quest of guide dog discussion

## Post 2 by muttand snake (Newborn Zoner) on Friday, 29-Aug-2003 21:17:08

I dont have one yet but hope too soon then we will talk

## Post 3 by Rasberry_swirl (Account disabled) on Saturday, 30-Aug-2003 0:26:31

I'm in the application process they still have to do the home visit then we'll see what happens I am super super anxious:-)

## Post 4 by jenberly (Generic Zoner) on Saturday, 30-Aug-2003 1:20:00

I have a guide dog as well, she is a golden retriever. And yes I can agree it is great even with all of the troubles that we have to go through. As long as we have our guides everything is fine.

## Post 5 by muttand snake (Newborn Zoner) on Saturday, 30-Aug-2003 19:51:46

yea rasberry I am in the same boat applied and waiting

## Post 6 by The Shuck Fitter (My name is Liam) on Sunday, 31-Aug-2003 7:48:57

I for one care not for them. I have nothing against guide dogs nor they're users because I know of the service it provides, I just don't feel it is my calling. NO guide puppy for me.

## Post 7 by BB (move over school!) on Sunday, 31-Aug-2003 19:05:19

Hi, I am getting my guide dog here in the next week or two. He is a grey German Shepard named Laser. I can't wait. Well muttandsnake you'll get yours soon enough. Hope to talk to you guys later.

## Post 8 by Python_74 (Generic Zoner) on Thursday, 04-Sep-2003 21:51:09

I'm with Liam. If other people want to use guide dogs as their mobility aid, that's cool with me. However, I would prefer not to have one. BTW, isn't the NFB opposed to guide dogs even though some of their members have dogs?

## Post 9 by Jeffrey (Newborn Zoner) on Sunday, 14-Sep-2003 1:37:47

I am in the minority as far as the other posts go. I have a retired Seeing Eye dog, a Black Lab, which gave me many years of excellent service. I have decided not to replace him though because when it came down to it, the freedom in mobility he provided came out just a bit short in the scales when weighed against the care he needed. I was lousy about grooming him every day, I just wasn't disciplined enough. That meant constant hair everywhere, and always feeling guilty for being such a slob. I grew to dislike all the squealing (Look! It's a doggie" children, or people refusing to get into the elevator with us, or the constant "Is it okay to pet him, I know you're not supposed to, but...." questions. I get a lot more people putting their hands on me attempting to help when I don't feel I need it now that I'm traveling with my cane again, but I've been doing it since June, and so far, my first dog will also be my last. I don't think this will squelch the enthusiasm people rightfully feel when they are about to receive their first dog, and that's certainly not my intent. It is just short of miraculous to have sight available once again, even if it's only canine and second hand, but I'm back to my cane, and it doesn't need to be walked, fed, brushed, corrected, and probably most importantly, doesn't snore at the foot of my bed.

## Post 10 by Python_74 (Generic Zoner) on Saturday, 27-Sep-2003 12:20:30

I have an uncle and he and his wife raise puppies to be bred as guide dogs. I might therefore reconsider my position, but I don't want to be caught by someone who might be opposed to guide dogs. No offense meant to anyone here who might be members of the NFB, but I just think it's discrimination when an organization which is supposed to stand up for the rights of its members, turns right around and goes against a mobility aid that truly does make people independent. There, I think I've said my bit.

## Post 11 by Liz (The Original) on Thursday, 16-Oct-2003 11:54:34

Hi all!
I just joined this site yesterday, and thought I'd chime in.
I had a guide dog for a year, but she had to be retired due to stress. I graduated in the 2002 June class at GEB, (Guiding Eyes for the Blind), in Yorktown Heights, New York. My guide is a yellow lab female named Katerina. She lives at home now, with my family, as a pet. I'm hoping to return to GEB in the January class. We'll see!
As for the independence a guide dog gives you, it's simply indescribable! I'm going to appreciate this dog all the more after having to use my cane for six months temporarily!

## Post 12 by gummybear16 (Account disabled) on Thursday, 16-Oct-2003 14:08:09

Of course I'm sixteen, and I'm seriously thinking about getting a guide dog. Where the Nfb is concerned, I'm still a little foggy about deciding.

## Post 13 by comanike (The Slightly Mad Aussie!) on Tuesday, 21-Oct-2003 11:10:58

I am in the waiting process of I could be contacted at any time to be told I'm getting a dog. and I cant wait! the accessment side of things was nerve racking but sinse I did it and got through my local guide dog trainer has given me a lot of advice on how to cope when I'm in the training center in Brisbane, unlike most of you who have posted here I am in Australia *smile* my boyfriend has also applied for a guide dog so it's going to be a two guide dog house hold here. I'll be happy when I have got my dog, it's an ambition I have had sinse the age of 7 and considdering I grew up on a farm with dogs around me all the time, it was only natural for me to want one. the responsibility of looking after them doesn't worry me at all. I love caring for animals anyway.

## Post 14 by lovebug (Newborn Zoner) on Thursday, 27-Nov-2003 16:19:11

wow - lol - i have a guide dog. i got sherby seven months ago from guide dogs for the blind in san rafael california. it is without a doubt, the best thing i did. having a guide is wonderful, and i don't have any regrets. i'm going to do it again and again and again. lol the freedom she provides me is unlike anything else, and so is the bond. lol sure, they take time and care, but everything she gives me in return [unconditional love, safety and confidence] make it all worth it.

## Post 15 by Liz (The Original) on Wednesday, 17-Dec-2003 9:18:55

Hey Nat! Lolol!
Can ya guess who this is?

## Post 16 by nickster (Account disabled) on Sunday, 18-Jan-2004 15:47:54

I took the guide dog quiz and I got a score of 50.

## Post 17 by chrischas0713 (Newborn Zoner) on Friday, 21-May-2004 3:29:09

Guide Dog quiz? Can some one tell me where I can get it, or what it is?
Thanks

## Post 18 by marrie1 (Veteran Zoner) on Sunday, 23-May-2004 18:56:58

I am going to guiding eyes for the blind in a week. I am scared and nervous. I went in oregon 2 years ago but dropped tyhe class. I don't want to do it again.
several things run through muy mind every night. What if I don't pass, what if the dog doe3sn't like me? what if ...
Gut a friend told me to put those fears aside and go for it. She told me to be confident in what I was dong and to do it even if I wan'tt sure and ask questions. Well, I'll stop rambling now. &LT;smiles>