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

Tue Sep 24 21:51:21 UTC 2013

Yes, Steve I agree.  It is in no way a dog guide's responsibility to look
after a child and if it happens in a troubled moment than that's a miracle.
My son is my responsibility and anything my dog might do to keep him safe or
help him is just icing on the cake.  Even now with my son not quite 3 yet, I
explain to my son that my guide's job is to keep mommy safe so if he's
holding my hand and walking by my side he needs to look ahead for obstacles
so he doesn't hit anything.  I'm fortunate that my guide is extremely in
tune to my son and really looks out for him but this is in no way expected
of him.

Have a great day!

Erin

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Steve
Jacobson
Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2013 6:46 AM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] [Bulk] Mom's Guide Dog Saves Her Baby From Being
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
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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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