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

Tue Sep 24 14:49:22 UTC 2013

Honestly, I didn't use a stroller much when my daughter was a baby and I 
traveled by myself because I found it cumbersome to pull, and I wasn't 
willing to risk pushing it in front of me.  GDB did send me a report one of 
the trainers had written up about how to successfully pull a stroller, and 
the person who did the annual field visits offered to help me take a few 
laps of my condo building with a stroller when she checked in on me, but I 
didn't end up doing it because the weather wasn't suitable for taking the 
baby out that day.  Lots of parents do it successfully, but for me, it just 
didn't work.

That being said, all I can add is that guide dogs do have a way of making a 
point.  The dog probably didn't push the stroller out of the way.  From the 
way the story was written, at least, it was more of a body slam.  Perhaps 
the differences in traffic patterns from how cars are on the other side of 
the road in the UK contributed.

\I didn't have a stroller with me, thank God, but I once made a very poor 
travel choice when I was by myself.  It was gusty wind and pouring down 
rain, and I decided to follow a fast-moving group of college kids across the 
light rail tracks downtown.  What I didn't know was that they were trying to 
beat the train.  The light rail trains are extremely quiet because they're 
run by electricity on smooth tracks.  So the first I heard of the impending 
train was the ringing bell, which sounded like it was a few inches over my 
left shoulder.  I had one split second of panic, which felt a hell of a lot 
longer than it was, and I remember thinking that I should let my dog go so 
she could maybe run out of the way and both of us wouldn't end up flattened. 
Then she yanked me straight backwards with a strength I swear I never knew 
she had.  I'm not exactly sure how she managed it because I had bigger 
issues on my mind, but she ended up in front of me, with the side of her 
body against my knees, once we were off the tracks.  I know it was a close 
call because a whole crowd of hysterical people popped up, saying what a 
great dog I had and how I was lucky and so forth.  I was lucky, but I was 
also guilty of seriously poor judgment in a moment of distraction.  It 
happens.  I hope I wouldn't have done that with a child in tow, but I guess 
I might have, since I wanted to get out of the rain and on the bus before I 
ended up stranded downtown and in need of webbed feet.

There was a story out of California that made the news not long ago in which 
a sighted mother was crossing some traditional railroad tracks and got hit 
by a train.  Her last desperate act was to pick up the stroller she was 
pushing and literally throw it  as far as she could in a desperate attempt 
to save the baby.  It worked, but the poor thing will grow up without a 
mother.  Some said she was a hero, some said she was an idiot, maybe she was 
both.  Most likely, the baby was squalling, she was late home to fix dinner, 
she had a lot on her mind, and she made a very imprudent choice.  People do 
it all the time, sighted or blind.  Sometimes the price is higher than they 
ever could have imagined.

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.
-----Original Message----- 
From: Steve Jacobson
Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2013 7:46 AM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] [Bulk] Mom's Guide Dog Saves Her Baby FromBeing 
Hitby a Car

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
>The leader of computer support, training and web development services
>Web: http://commtechusa.net
>Twitter: http://twitter.com/commtechllc
>Facebook: http://facebook.com/commtechllc
>Email: info at commtechusa.net
>Phone: (888) 351-5289 Ext. 710
>Fax: (480) 535-7649

>> 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.
>> _______________________________________________
>> blparent mailing list
>> blparent at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> blparent:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/tcl189%40rogers.com
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> blparent mailing list
>> blparent at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> blparent:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/theblindtech%40gmail.com

>_______________________________________________
>blparent mailing list
>blparent at nfbnet.org
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>blparent:
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/tcl189%40rogers.com

>_______________________________________________
>blparent mailing list
>blparent at nfbnet.org
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>blparent:
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/steve.jacobson%40visi.com

_______________________________________________
blparent mailing list
blparent at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
blparent:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/jopinto%40msn.com 