Just Say No (to Distractions)

December 18, 2007 by Cyndy
Filed under: Uncategorized 

There are a fair number of things people have done to me and/or my dogs that are greatly annoying. People pet the dog even when I very politely request they not. Some try and feed her1 regardless of my pleas. Others still are just plain rude or inconsiderate. However, in my very humble opinion, the most unacceptable thing to ever do to a guide dog is to distract her while she is very evidently working. I’m all too used to explaining how much “work” it is for a dog to be calm and merely sit or lie down at my feet, but I really think it’s rather obvious what a guide dog is doing when walking with a blind person in harness!

Today, for the second time in my years working with a guide dog, I had a person stoop down and pet my girl as I was in the middle of crossing a street. Both times I’ve wished we were in a less dangerous and busy place so I could share a few choice pieces of my mind. Probably it’s been a good thing all around that I haven’t. Yet, it hardly changes the fact that I think of such a heinous thing to be right up there with suddenly clapping one’s hands over the eyes of a person driving a vehicle. It’s literally that amount of stupid and unsafe.

You could say these people were not thinking or that they were just ignorant of proper guide dog etiquette. I agree and yet I don’t. Was I the only little girl taught not to go up to strange dogs I don’t know and pet them? I think not.

1. One of the most appalling examples occurred while I waited for a bus. A woman walked by us finishing off a barbecued chicken wing and tossed the bone to Dolly. Thankfully, a friend was with me and retrieved the bone before my girl could potentially choke on it.

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Comments

7 Comments on Just Say No (to Distractions)

  1. daysies on Tue, 18th Dec 2007 7:06 pm

    2. OMG, how stupid was that woman! i had a friend whose dog died from eating a chicken bone. it got lodged in her throat and choked to death. (i think the dog got it out of the trash… but still!)

    and people petting your dog while you’re crossing the street? how would they like it if you pushed them onto oncoming traffic… they think it’s because they assume you can’t see ANYTHING they can get away with EVERYTHING. little do they know…

  2. daysies on Tue, 18th Dec 2007 7:09 pm

    3. and i agree with the not agreeing. lol it’s all in hindsight. people tend to flock to cute things and want to smother them. common sense doesn’t come into the picture until something terrible happens.

  3. Cyndy on Tue, 18th Dec 2007 7:27 pm

    4. As mad as I was about the chicken bone lady, even if I had the ability to give her the earful she deserved, it would have made me look bad. I am still wildly shocked at the level of stupid people seem to have around me and my dogs sometimes.

    The petting/distracting thing is a constant issue with any guide dog user, but it floored me both times that it’s happened while I’m in the middle of an intersection. I’m just totally stupefied that anyone can be that level of ignorant.

    You know, the common sense thing really only flies when you’re a kid. I get it when they react with super amounts of fright or delight, but adults SHOULD know better. Period. It really burns me when they shriek at me about the dog, I mean I know some people have fears but as an adult you just should be able to control your own behavior.

    Clearly, I expect too much of people. :)

  4. Raechel on Tue, 18th Dec 2007 11:12 pm

    5. Some people seem to have no common sense :(

    I actually had someone a couple weeks ago start calling/whistling at Spock(we were inside a building). I turned to tell her to stop, but before I could her friend got her to stop and started telling her why she shouldn’t do that….so maybe there’s some hope…

    Adults screaming when they see a dog just makes me mad. It’s not necessary :(

    I totally agree about being taught to not go over to strange dogs… It drives me nuts when adults do it and I seriously feel bad for kids that do it… It’s just stupid and dangerous. (I do always try and let kids that ask pet my puppies and if I have to say no, I try to really super nicely thank them for asking and explain why they can’t pet them.)

  5. Cyndy on Wed, 19th Dec 2007 12:23 am

    6. I don’t know why it’s called “common” sense, certainly isn’t near as prevalent as the name would suggest.

    I really don’t get it when adults act so immaturely when they see a dog. Kids at least have an excuse.

    And I totally agree about trying to be as nice and politely educational to children as possible when it comes to letting them pet the dog or having to kindly refuse. Certainly it seems one can’t rely on their parents to teach them given so few seem to know proper etiquette themselves!

  6. Raechel on Wed, 19th Dec 2007 3:22 pm

    7. You know of all the people who scream and make a big seen, it’s always been the adults (at least for me). The kids usually get really quite and try to go another direction, no fuss, no scream, just turn and go somewhere else. Seriously why can’t the adults do that :O

    You’re right about common sense…it really isn’t that ‘common’ :)

  7. Cyndy on Wed, 19th Dec 2007 4:50 pm

    8. Kids tend to have one of two reactions when they see my dog. They either are beyond happy (and sometimes rush right up to her to pet her) or so scared they burst into tears, and often run away. Breaks my heart.

    Adults just are way too immature around my dogs too often for me to really care to elaborate on the level of stupid they have around me.

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