- Is
it OK to pet a guide dog?
- What
kind of dog is Glade?
- How old is Glade?
- Is it OK
to feed Glade?
- I
love dogs but I'm allergic to them!
- How
long does it take to train a Guide Dog?
- What
happens to Glade when she gets too old to guide?
Yes, but only if you ask permission first. Many
people do not want their seeing eye or guide dogs petted, because it distracts
them and I also would appreciate it if you do not pet Glade when she is guiding.
Her job is to get me safely from one place to another. I'm in charge of
navigation -- I decide where we are going and issue commands -- and she is in
charge of safety. She will turn right or left on command, lead me around
obstacles and stop for street crossings or stairs. Because we have been together
a long time, she can often read my mind, for example, taking me to a regular
meeting without me having to issue any commands, but this has nothing to do with
training. I can travel completely safely with her, so don't feel you have to
move obstacles out of the way. In fact, it is better if you do not; as that
keeps her in practice!
At work it is different, because Glade has to endure long,
boring periods with nothing to do but watch me type, and when Glade is tied up
in my office people are welcome to pet her. Glade loves people, and it is
perfectly fine to visit my cube for a pet as often and as long as you like. If I
am busy working though, I will probably not chat much with a petter.
Glade has a collection of bones and toys, and her favorite
game is tug. I keep her tied up on about ten feet of lead, so you can play fetch
or tug with her whenever you want.
Glade is a Golden Retriever.
That depends on when you're reading this, but Glade was born in September,
1992.
I also want to emphasize that it's important to never
feed Glade no matter how hungry she looks. Believe me, she isn't
hungry - she has all the dog food she wants both at home. Worse, she now
weighs about 75 pounds, which is 20 pounds overweight and bad for her
health. She gets unlimited quantities of diet dog food at home.
The same rule applies to dog treats. You may think
that you're only giving her one dog treat a day and that one treat can't
possibly make much difference, but there are twenty other people the office who
think the same thing. Twenty-one dog treats per day add up to one pudgy
Golden Retriever!
Some food, like table scraps, also makes her sick; and I
mean the barfing kind of sick. So remember, if you are tempted to sneak her a
bite, how embarrassing the results can be for me!
Glade is bathed every two weeks. I usually do it myself,
and for a few days after the bath, people with mild allergies can pet her
because she's so clean. Because she had many allergic friends in my last jobs, I
got into the habit of tying a scarf around her neck to indicate when she was
especially clean and removing the scarf after a few days post-bath. If you're
allergic, but like dogs, you might try a pet when she has her scarf on.
Guide dogs are raised for their first year of life by
"puppy raisers", volunteers who socialize the puppy and teach it basic
commands. Anyone can become a puppy raiser. When the dog is about fourteen
months old, it is returned to the guide dog school for five months of training
with a licensed instructor. When the dog is about twenty months old and often
slightly older, it is paired with a blind partner, and the team is trained
together in a residential setting for 2-4 weeks. An experienced handler like me
will be given shorter training periods with each new dog I acquire.
Glade comes from the local guide dog school in San Rafael.
There are about eight similar schools throughout the country; the Seeing Eye in
New Jersey being the oldest and most famous. Strictly speaking that means
Glade is a Guide Dog, but not a Seeing Eye Dog, however most people are fairly
careless about this terminology. To many government agencies, Glade is a service
animal, a broader term which includes not only dogs for the blind but
"hearing" dogs for the deaf, dogs and other animals for the mobility
impaired, and many more.
Guide dogs are legally the property of the Guide Dogs
organization in San Rafael and when she becomes too old to guide or should I
become unable to use or care for a dog, she will be put up for adoption.
The Guide Dogs people are very fussy about who adopts their dogs,
and there is a seven-year waiting list to adopt a retired guide dog. Rest
assured that all retired guide dogs live out their lives in a comfortable
retirement.
Guide Dogs will generally allow the dog's owner to decide
who adopts a retiring dog, if he has a preference. If the dog's current
owner has a preference as to who adopts their retired dog. My previous dog
was adopted by a home for retarded children in Orange county because I chose to
not keep her. She had arthritis and needed to be in a warmer climate; also I did
not want her to be left alone all day. Glade will likely be given to my
boyfriend's parents who run a farm and a petting zoo, where she'll spent the
rest of her life being petted for a living.
![[photo of Glade]](images/glade.jpg)
