Category: Daily Living
Where does your guidedog sleep? On the bed? On their bed? in your kid's room? Do you have any pets aside from your guidedog? If and when you retire your guidedog will you keep it? or, will you find it a foster home? Do you have any children? How do people react to you as a blind parent? If your kids are sighted, do they try to take advantage of your disability? How do you cope with the complex family dynamics of pets, kids and guide dog or dogs in your home? If you live alone, do you feel more vulnerable as a blind person than a sighted person might? To what degree does your family depend on you, and to what degree are you independant of them? Just looking for people's input on this complex issue.
Uhm it seems to me you're asking several questions that can be considered independantly of each other. Do you want people to treat them as such and answer each question on it's own if it applies to them and skip the rest, or are you looking for answers from people that fit all of the requirements of the questions.
I have a guide dog, a pet dog and a rabbit who we are about to start trying to house train. We're also hoping to get a cat soon. My animals are my family. In the home, they can go where ever I would, including the bed and the soffas. Luckily, most people around me on a day to day basis agree with me, or I would have to keep the flat in more of a pristine condition, which is something that I would be willing to do if it were such a big issue. There is no way I'd give my guide dog up after she retires. She's part of the family, not just an animal that can leave when I no longer need her... We do plan on having children. Obviously in the early days of parenthood, and until the child is old enough to make it's own decision, the animals will be kept away, but after that, it's up to individual preference.
Yep that's what I'm looking for, just your thoughts and ideas enspired by the multi-question post. Oh, and SingerOfSOngs, lol don't over analyze so much. Just throw in which ever two sents you think might be appropriate. There are no worng answers. Have a great day all.
Heya,
Well, I have a cat.. she's alllowed to sleep on my bed and stuff... she usually doesn't, though.
I sometimes feel more vulnerable traveling alone at night because I'm blind, but I find that when I pretend I know where I'm going, people leave me alone and don't try anything.
I know that kinda answers the questions...
I'm not a guidedog user, but am considering it.
However, when my kids were fairly young (ages nine and five respectively), my ex- had a guidedog. In fact, she had two over a fairly short period of time.
When she first came back with the first dog, we were all a little nervous. I had given the kids the "don't touch the dog" speech "that's your mom's dog." etc. etc.
When my ex- came back from guidedog school, she was very nervous and so was I. However, she kept the dog on tie down in our room while we slept. After a few days I told her that was cruel and she agreed, saying "but the school told us..." She finally agreed to try it without putting the dog on tie down, and the dog slept in the same place every night, just where she had been on tie down.
Soon the kids were taking her for walks, grooming her, and she and we were all a big happy family. The only problem that occurred was one time when I caught my son eating his supper in his room, and gave him hell about it. In our argument we both raised our voices, and I grabbed him by the arm to get him to turn toward me and listen to my words. The dog was in the living room, but soon she came bounding into the room and gave out with a loud bark (saying, I imagined, "shut up will you?")
My son and I couldn't help it, we both broke up in laughter.
The guidedog reacted differently to each of us based on our personalities. With me, she was joking, with my ex- she was all business, with my son she was playful, and with my daughter (who is a delicate person), the guidedog was very very gentle.
When this particular dog died three years later, we all felt that a member of our family had died.
Hope this answers some of your questions.
Bob
That's wonderful. I know what a delicate balance it can be between intigrating a guidedog too much or not enough with the entire family. It's good to hear that you found a way to make it work for you. oh, and lol that's a great way to releave family tensions, a noise police, peace keeping dog. What breed was that dog? It sounds like a lab to me, but I'm just guessing.
Actually, it was a beautiful golden retriever.
Bob
Hi, i don't own a guide dog yet, but, when i move house with my fiance, we're both considering getting one. i live with my mum and sister, and we have a puppy, she stays on mum's bed mostly. we don't have many children around, so, puppy is fine with that.
Ah yes, a golden is a wonderful family dog. And good for you, I hope you both have good luck in acquiring guide dogs.
Anywhere he feels like sleeping both dogs have the run of the flat.
I agree with Post #2; they are a lot of different but relatable questions. So, I'll just answer them one at a time.
"Where does your guidedog sleep? ..." -- I don't have a guide dog, but if I did, I'd have it sleeping nearby on it's own bed.
""Do you have any pets aside from your guidedog?"" -- I would have 3 other dogs aside from my guide dog. If I were still living at my parents' house (which in that case I wouldn't get a guide dog but if that were the case), there'd be 5: the 3 mentioned plus Mom's and my brother's dogs.
"If and when you retire your guidedog will you keep it? or, will you find it a foster home?" -- I don't know. I'd probably keep it, as people around here don't seem much into large dogs.
""Do you have any children?"" -- No.
""How do people react to you as a blind parent?"" -- I'm not a parent, but I did have this one incident at the YMCA with my 2 nephews (both age 10 at the time). We were in the weight room and I was not aware that there was a starting age limit to using the treadmeals. My nephews were using them properly and off and on I had them talking to me and would talk to them so that I cold make sure they were still there. (I trust them, but that was my way of keeping an eye on them.) Anyway, a lady that it turned out would sometimes talk to me whent up to one of my nephews and told him and my other nephew to get off and was about to physically do something because I guess he didn't do it immediately. But he then got off as he didn't want her touching him and so did my other nephew and I. I tried to calmly explain that they were properly using the treadmeels, but she didn't pay any attention to me. So, I think people would probably react in that way, or seem amazed at them or me, as that's how people usually react toward me now. Although I was asked one time if a student I was working with was my son; that one made me smile and I wish I'd said something else besides "no". *smile*
"If your kids are sighted, do they try to take advantage of your disability?" -- Well, I know my nephews and niece have tried to do that before, usually teasingly, wich I usually didn't mind, but there was this one time where my 6-year-old niece had said she had picked up the toys and had left the room when she actually didn't clean up. Thankfully one of my nephews was there and caught her. (At home, they are not really used to cleaning up all the time and of course it's harder getting the younger ones to do it if it was never consistently taught/expected of them.) I'd want to teach my kids to clean up after themselves and always let me know where they were and who they're friends are (as well as talking to them myself of course), but I'm sure at least one would still do or try to do something that they might otherwise not get away with if I could see them whether jokingly or on purpose.
"How do you cope with the complex family dynamics of pets, kids and guide dog or dogs in your home?" -- I can't answer that as I wouldn't know how things would go for sure and don't regularly have children around, (that live with me.)
"If you live alone, do you feel more vulnerable as a blind person than a sighted person might?" -- I am sometimes left alone during the day for example while my dad goes helps out people, and my mom and brother are at school. I totally don't mind as I don't like them thinking I need someone to take care of me and anyway, I know and trust most of the people on my street and most of us look out for each other. However, if someone were to break in, I would be scared, especially if I and the intruder were face-to-face. However,I feel less vulnerable in a way because of having my dogs and my cell phone, because I know I can easily get help and the dogs are good at barking at anyone that comes around. If I'm traveling alone, I'd preffer to know beforehand where I'll be going: where the doors and other areas/rooms are. (I know, this doesn't go well with the fact that I really would like to travel sometime, but yeah.) So yeah, if I don't or can't get pre-orientation for places I want to go to but don't know, I get someone to go with me.
"To what degree does your family depend on you, and to what degree are you independant of them?" -- My family really doesn't put major responsibilities on me or my youngest brother (my sister and other brother have their own places), but we are expected to help out with at least some things. We both buy our own things with some kind of income: My brother uses his Financial Aid and work money to pay for his car insurance and gas and to go out, while I use my Financial Aid money to pay my cell pone bill, buy the dog food, and sometimes buy technology and other things I will need. (My Social Security check helps with the bills, as my parents don't work right now because of disabilities from the job they last had.) We are also supposed to help out with stuff around the house; I feed the dogs and sometimes wash all the dishes. Also, we all let each other know where we're going and around what time we'll be back. As for my dependence on my family, I usually get things done on my own in that I call and email the people I need to contact, and I arrange my rides with paratransit to and from places I need to go. My mom insists that I can also let her know if I need a ride somewhere (I guess because she doesn't like the paratransit system especially if I need to be somewhere at a certain time and for me to save money), but I usually just ask if we're already going to be going somewhere anyway.
Now, that was a good, thurrow post. Thanks.
Well, I don't have a guide dog, but Babes, my little fox terrier/dauksund mix sleeps with me. We have a queen size, and since she's an inside dog, she gets baths fairly often, so she's clean. As far as independence, in the town I live in, there's no public transportation, so I have to depend on people to take me where I need to go, which is a pain. Other than that, I'm very independent. I do my bank account by phone, pay bills by phone, cook, clean, and do laundry. But, I'm still realistic. There's things I hneed help with, so I'm getting a provider. A lot of people might disagree with this, but this town's so small, it's hard to be independent of a provider. If I were in a big city, I wouldn't do it, since I would have public transportation. The thing I need help with as far as a provider goes is shopping. The people I know might be busy and can't do it. Also, I clean fairly well, but there's things I miss. Like my kitchen floor. I hate trying to clean it. Sweeping it is a nightmare, so I use an electric broom, but even at that, I still have to get down on the floor, and mop with a dish towel section by section. Then, I forget what I've done with the stupid mop bucket. That makes me so mad. And my cabinets. They show stains so easily. It might feel clean, but it's still stained. I can vacum fairly well, and my room is easy for me to clean since it's not as big as the kitchen. I don't mind doing the fridge. It's easy, except for putting back the vegetable bins. They're either in crookeed or, the door won't open far enough to snap them in, so they're kind of lose. I can't wait until those auto piloted cars come out. Either that, or I win the lotery and get a chauffeur and maid. lol
I don't have a guide dog but I have two kittens and they either steal my big pillow when I roll over in my sleep, or they sleep at the foot of my bed, or in various chairs around the house. They also like to sleep on the computer desk or kitchen counter. If I had a guide dog and it was ready to retire, I'd base my decision on how close the bond was. I'd probably most likely keep it if we bonded closely. I used to live with my parents and a pet dog and my parents sheltered me from being completely independent and more often than not, they were very dependent on me, especially Mom. I'm so glad to have moved out, but I do take precaution to make sure I lock all four locks on the house, make sure the windows are covered well enough, etc. Mom tried to instill a lot of fear and vulnerability into me because I'm blind, a female, and I'm frontally endowed if you know what I mean. I don't let fear rule me though I conduct myself as if I can handle anything just as well as a sighted person can.
Oo no! That woulldn't be allowed in our house. With the acception of my Grandparents, dog when she wants to hide from loud bangs, camera flashes, hot air balloons and even the moon, she's allowed upstairs, but generally, mum sets up a bed and stuff either at the foot of the stairs in the hall or in the dining room, if and when she comes to stay with us, as she doesn't like dogs all over the furniture and the beds upstairs. I realise that could be a challenge if and when I get my guide dog, but there! While I'm living under mum's roof, I'd better just go with the flow, stick to the "no dogs upstairs" rule and bed the dog down either in the hall or the kitchen.
Soon enough, I will be getting my first guide dog. I'm going to have him/her sleep on a separate bed in my room. Since we don't have any small children in the house, I'll be able to adjust easily. My golden retriever Jackson, should be able to get used to another dog around the house as well.
Or at least he's going to adjust over time. I won't know until the dog and I get home. He will most certainly be sad when my dog and I go out to do guidework, and he can't come. Poor puppy. *smiles*
Hi,
I will also be getting my first guide dog in July, and I'm looking forward to the independence I will have. I'm slightly nervous about the adjustment process I know my family, new dog, and i will go through upon our return home from training, but my family and friends are very supportive and I know they will respect the rules I will have to put in to play.
Thanks.
Kolby
I've gone through that with my parents, but I'll definitely go through it again when I get back with my dog.
Kolbygarrison and Nymphadora, if you have them by now, how are you faring with your new pups? And congratulations! *smile*
My guide dog (who I lost in March at age 11) liked to sleep on my bed. In the beginning, I tried to get her to stay on the floor, but she'd always hop up after I'd gone to sleep. Her puppy raiser had let her sleep on the bed, you see, and though we stuck to the rules while at the guide dog school, well, home was home, and I'm not one for sticking to unnecessary rules just for the sake of doing it. *smile* I really didn't mind, and I got so used to her being there that I had trouble sleeping on the rare occasion when she wasn't there. So my dog always did sleep on my bed, both in the times when I lived alone and when I had a partner. Said partner didn't care for that, but my puppy was here first. LOL Of course, my dog didn't sleep on the bed when we visited other people's houses. My mother is really the only one who I had difficulties with, concerning the dog. she doesn't care for animals, and doesn't want them in her house, so needless to say, I didn't visit her often while I had my dog because she had myriad complaints, and the whole thing was hurtful and more stressful than it had to be.
My puppy was a lab, and behaved differently with my partner, for instance, she played more gently with me, and never growled while playing.. not that I would have minded that. I don't have children, but my partner had a guide dog too, for a while. The dogs got along just fine. I miss them terribly; they were my babies. *smile*
I kept her after she retired, I never thought of doing anything else. As someone above rightly said, the puppy is family, it's unthinkable to contemplate sending them away.
Steven and I are doing well. He only jumped on my bed at Guide dogs for the blind once. After I gave him a very stern command of, "off!' he obeyed, and has not done it since while at home with me.
Hi all. My partner and I both have Guide Dogs. They sleep on their own bed in our bedroom. If we had a bigger house I would like to have a no dogs upstairs rule! Its sometimes nice to get away from their snoring and figiting in the middle of the night! I used to have a cat who slept downstairs, and wasn't allowed upstairs, she learned this very well.
I have recently got a new Guide Dog, unfortunatly I just couldn't look after my old one. It was very hard to say goodbye to her, especially as my family couldn't take her, after years of promising that they would.
I think I'd like to have children one day, but the whole thing scares me! I'm a very indipendent person, I've lived on my own for over 10 years now, but there are still things I worry I wouldn't work out how to do! I also worry what people would think of blind parents! The dogs and children would have to learn to get on with each other, but the one thing that worries me is dog hair on the kids! No matter how much you try to keep the place clean, its going to happen, and although I got used to it, I think a lot of people would find it grose if the kids got covered.