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

Wed Sep 25 04:59:28 UTC 2013

I did use one with my last, but I got one I can pull along behind me. But mostly, with all 3 of my kids, I used a baby carrier. Much easier to use.
Steph

----- Original Message -----
From: Jo Elizabeth Pinto <jopinto at msn.com>
To: "Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Date: Wednesday, September 25, 2013 12:50 am
Subject: Re: [blparent] [Bulk] Mom's Guide Dog Saves Her Baby FromBeing Hitby a Car

>
>
> 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.
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> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
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Mum to 3 kids
Twitter: @passionddpiano 