[blparent] [Bulk] Mom's Guide Dog Saves Her Baby From Being Hitby a Car

Tue Sep 24 13:46:18 UTC 2013

Mostly, we seem to be working through this somewhat difficult topic.  While I would tend to leave turning in people to be 
investigated to others, I don't think it hurts to have a discussion surrounding this article as we have.  I find myself having the 
same concerns about this article expressed by others.  This article might be a good promotion for dog guides, but it really does 
nothing at all to help those of us who are blind parents, in fact I think it hurts us.  I think we have to be a little careful 
about making assumptions based upon the facts stated in this article, though.  Did the dog actually push the stroler out of the 
way or did the dog simply halt their progress.  Was the car truly aiming right at them at the time?  Do we know for certain that 
the mother wouldn't have successfully pulled the stroler back?  There was reference to the squeal of tires, so clearly the driver 
was trying to stop.  We don't really know if this happened as written or if someone was looking for a dramatic feel-good story.  
For that reason, we really do need to be careful about judging the mother in this case because we really cannot evaluate all of 
the facts.

Having said that, and since it came up, I would appreciate it if those of you who use dog guides would explain to those of us who 
don't how anyone would expect a dog to physically move a stroler out of the path of a car.  This is very different from alerting 
the person using the dog that they should stop.  A dog could even push is body against the handlers legs to make the point.  
However, it is extremely difficult to push a stroler with rubber wheels sideways in some cases.  If a school teaches someone to 
push the stroler when using a dog, that person can probably not be blamed for doing that, but it is very hard for me to see this 
as a good practice.  I can see that with a dog, the stroler is going to be covered better than it would be if I were trying to 
push it and use my cane, but it still seems to me that there are unnecessary risks except in very familiar areas.  Somehow, it 
seems to me that a dog's responsibility should be to protect the handler, and the handler should be protecting the child in the 
stroler, not placing that responsibility on the dog.  How do those of you who use dogs see this?

Let's continue to try to keep emotions in check as we have so far.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson
List Moderator

On Mon, 23 Sep 2013 12:38:09 -0400, Tammy wrote:

>I know some people who are blind who push their strollers ahead of them 
>while using a guide dog and although I dont' agree with the practice, some 
>schools teach their dogs to guide that way if necessary.  A stroller is much 
>easier to push then to pull and maybe she felt comfortable pushing hers.

>Tammy
>--Original Message----- 
>From: Gabe Vega Via Iphone4S
>Sent: Monday, September 23, 2013 10:14 AM
>To: Blind Parents Mailing List
>Cc: Blind Parents Mailing List
>Subject: Re: [blparent] [Bulk] Mom's Guide Dog Saves Her Baby From Being 
>Hitby a Car

>Was no one else asking themselves, what was this blind mother doing pushing 
>her stroller I had of her when crossing a street, does this not place the 
>baby in danger if she was totally blind? Sounds kind of funny to me, and I 
>get the gist of the story is the capabilities and/or intuition of the guy 
>dog, but I have more questions than answers at this point

>Gabe Vega
>Sent from my iPhone
>CEO
>Commtech LLC
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>> On Sep 23, 2013, at 6:52 AM, "Tammy" <tcl189 at rogers.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Yes, all 3 of them.
>>
>> Tammy
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Jo Elizabeth Pinto
>> Sent: Monday, September 23, 2013 12:54 AM Subject: [Bulk] [blparent] Mom's 
>> Guide Dog Saves Her Baby From Being Hit by a Car
>>
>> Mom's Guide Dog Saves Her Baby From Being Hit by a Car
>> by Mary Fischer
>> Friday at 1:12 PM
>>
>> Mom Jessica Crowley is thanking her lucky stars after her guide dog saved 
>> her baby's life by pushing his stroller out of the way of a car that was 
>> heading straight for it.
>>
>> Jessica is registered blind, and her black lab, Jet, has been by her side 
>> for five years. While getting ready to cross the street pushing her son 
>> Jacob's stroller, she heard the screech of a car coming in their 
>> direction. And just before it hit, Jet broke loose from Jessica's grip and 
>> knocked the stroller out of the way. It did fall over and the baby wound 
>> up with a cut on his lip, but if it weren't for Jet's quick actions, 
>> something much worse could have happened.
>>
>> Jessica says that Jet loves little Jacob as if he were her own, which is 
>> evident based on how she reacted when she realized he was in danger. Who 
>> says a dog can't have mama bear instincts -- even if a human baby is the 
>> one she's trying to protect? It's amazing how even though she's trained to 
>> assist Jessica, she immediately switched gears and came to Jacob's rescue.
>>
>> I'm sure this mom keeps replaying what happened over and over again in her 
>> mind -- I know I would if my son had almost been hit by a car. And I don't 
>> know how I'd ever be able to give that dog enough love and praise to thank 
>> her for what she did -- though something tells me dogs do what they feel 
>> is right without expecting anything much in return.
>>
>> What a blessing it is that Jessica had Jet with her that day. I'm sure 
>> every time she hears her sweet baby boy's voice, she's once again reminded 
>> of what a gem of a dog she has in her life!
>>
>> Is your dog protective of your baby?
>>
>>
>> http://thestir.cafemom.com/baby/161452/moms_guide_dog_saves_her
>>
>> Jo Elizabeth
>>
>> Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may 
>> kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at 
>> evening.--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
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