[blparent] A quick guide dog question

[sharon howerton]

Joy, did your school teach you that leash technique or is it something you 
developed on your own?
Sharon
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joy Wolf" <joy at kevinlwolf.net>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2010 8:09 PM
Subject: Re: [blparent] A quick guide dog question


> Sigh, finally a moment to sit down and answer your leash guiding question,
> lol.  I will say that this too could be a very individual thing.  Let me
> give a couple examples of when it has been very convenient and even safer
> having my dog willing and able to leash guide.  Once at my mother-in-law's
> home, we were out in the back yard, just hanging out enjoying the weather.
> I like to let my guide just hang out with us, so I did not have her in
> harness.  She was on leash since the yard is not fenced, and was just 
> lying
> beside me.  My mother-in-law went inside for something, and my son picked
> that very moment to take a nasty fall! Now, usually he gets up and runs to
> me, and since he didn't you can imagine my complete panic.  I stood up, 
> told
> Delia forward and find Jaden, and we were there in a second.  Fortunately,
> it was not as serious as I had feared, but what if it was? My 
> mother-in-law
> has an absolutely huge back yard.  I wasn't going to call my kids back to 
> me
> every tim e she stepped in the house, after all I could hear them.  But
> navigating her yard would have been slower if I couldn't just pick up and
> go.  Another example is chasing my kids at our local park, one of the few
> places that is easy to get to, not on any busy roads, and has equipment I
> feel isn't too dangerous for my daughter who has a bone condition.  So 
> maybe
> it's just me, but if I've already got the leash in my hand, which I 
> should,
> and the kids are running and I want to be right there with them, it's just 
> a
> bit of a time saver rather than stopping each time to grab the harness
> handle or keeping it in my hand, which gets uncomfortable for me due to an
> old injury.  I would say the most surprising situation where I used leash
> guiding as it relates to my kids was a trip to the city.  Absolutely
> nerveracking without any problems, as I had to try and hold onto and keep
> track of two kids while we visited the children's museum.  I was coming 
> back
> to the train station with two kids on my right and the dog on my left when
> the harness strap broke.  Just broke! I was absolutely horrified! What was 
> I
> going to do now and how to get my kids home safely? The answer was leash
> guiding.  I had Delia take me all the way back to the train station that
> way, and we made it in 1 piece, lol.  I guess I personally just like to 
> have
> that option for those times when life's unexpected challenges come up.  I
> really loved my experience at GDB where I got my current guide, but can
> honestly say I will be a bit torn as to what to do when Galette retires,
> which I hope won't be for many years.  Let me know if I answered your
> question or totally missed, lol.  Have a great weekend.
>
> Joy and family
>
>
>
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