By Linda Bartram
September is Guide Dog Awareness Month. Hear from one of our members on her experiences.
I retired my fourth guide dog about six or seven years ago, but feel I have something to contribute to guide dog awareness nevertheless.
When I returned from training with my first guide, Faith, one of the first things I did was put a sign on my harness handle that said “Working dog. Please do not distract.” I had hoped that this would be sufficient to discourage folks from distracting my dog. I was surprised therefore, to encounter an individual petting Faith while they asked me about the sign. I also discovered that there are many other ways to distract a guide dog aside from petting, and that some folks were hard pressed to refrain from these behaviours.
Most folks do know they are not supposed to pet a working dog. But then someone decided to tell folks that they should ask just in case the owner might let them. I found being asked rather uncomfortable as I am someone who likes to be obliging in other matters, but in this case, I felt I had to say “no” and often sensed their disappointment. I felt that it was important to be consistent. Letting folks pet Faith when in harness, when she was not “working”, only confused my dog. All my guide dogs loved attention and if they got it when in harness, they were more inclined to seek it out when working.
Another obvious potential distraction is offering a working dog a treat, so I won’t elaborate, but there are other more subtle ways to distract a working dog that folks may not even be aware they are doing, such as making eye contact. I remember an incident with my second guide, Kirsty, when I was deep in conversation with a bank teller. I had released the handle and had Kirsty’s leash looped around my left arm, as I needed both hands free. In the meantime, my left arm was being pulled further and further behind me. When I became conscious of this, I jerked the leash and corrected Kirsty, telling her to heel back to my side. A woman waiting in line then spoke up, saying that it was not the dog’s fault and that she had been distracting the dog. I thought that was the end of it, but a few moments later, Kirsty started to creep away again. I don’t know if the woman was still distracting my dog or if Kirsty wanted to see what the woman had to offer, but regardless, Kirsty’s focus was taken away from her job.
This incident was not critical, but such distraction can become problematic if safety is involved. My third guide, Sidney, once darted through an automatic door as it was opening, anxious to get to a distraction inside. I walked into the rather sharp edge of the moving door, ending up with a cut on my forehead.
Such incidents often elicit the comment, “That dog is not very well trained”. I would counter that perhaps it’s the humans who are not very well trained. Guide dogs are not robots, and they have their weaknesses. They love attention and require the humans they encounter to resist their charms, enabling them to focus on what they have been taught.
So the next time you encounter a blind person with a guide dog, please don’t ask them if you can pet their dog or give them a treat, and avoid speaking or making eye contact with the dog. You need to behave as if they do not exist. This may take some discipline on your part, but you will avoid contributing to poor behaviour. Rather, you will assist that guide dog to do its job as it was trained to do.
FEATURED IMAGE ALT TEXT: photo of a dog with its trainer