[nabs-l] Guide Dog or Cane? Which do u recommend and why?
Carly Mihalakis
carlymih at comcast.net
Fri Nov 1 15:00:47 UTC 2013
Good morning, Kirt, and other threadmates,
I second Kirt, here. For once, he and i are in
total agreement. Personally, large ly as a result
of presure from ol' Sighty, at the age of 16 even
went so far as to be "Juno-ized," the process in
which a trainer from the guide dog school comes
out to you and assesses the prospective handler's
travel skills. At the time and perhaps now, my
travel skills were fairly mediocre. Lately, I
have figured out that a guide dog is not the way
I wanna interact with the world, so thank you, Juno-izer!
After deviating from the point I will second Kurt
in saying I don't feel in a position of
suggesting or recomending anything to anyone,
particularly when I haven't experience with the question at hand.
for today, Car
408-209-3239
of adding fuel to the fire, Tyler has a very good
point. His cane users, we can talk about canes
all we want
I, for instance, don't have any
qualms at all explaining why I like my cane and
why it works so well for me personally that I've
pretty much entirely ruled out getting a dog,
though I did consider it at one time. However, I
don't really think it's right for me to tell
people how guide dog school's work, or what it's
like using the dog, beyond perhaps relaying
things I've heard from competent dog handlers and
making it clear that this isn't an area with
which I have any experience or expertise. Imagine
if you had a coworker Who maybe was friends with
a couple blind students in college or high
school, and this person started telling your boss
what it's like being blind, even with you in the
room. Do you think that would bother you, even a
little bit? Best, Kirt Sent from my iPhone > On
Oct 31, 2013, at 10:43 PM, "justin williams"
<justin.williams2 at gmail.com> wrote: > > I'm not
the only cane user who has answered
questions. Mind your own business. > >
-----Original Message----- > From: nabs-l
[mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Littlefield, Tyler > Sent: Thursday, October 31,
2013 10:54 PM > To: National Association of Blind
Students mailing list > Subject: Re: [nabs-l]
Guide Dog or Cane? Which do u recommend and
why? > > Justin: > If I remember correctly, you
said you do not have a dog. If this is the case,
please refrane from answering questions when you
have had no experience. She is already confused
enough as is--random input from people with lack
of said experience isn't helpful. > > Haley, the
school will indeed teach you some of what you
need to know. A lot of it though comes from time
with your dog and experience. The schools usually
also have support lines and there are lists where
you can ask those random questions that pop
up--undoubtedly there will always be someone who
can help out and you'll have your support
center. > > I also wanted to mention since I
forgot to in my last post that a guide dog is by
no means a replacement for a cane. You will still
need good mobility skills in order to utilize a
good dog. Just wanted to mention that is all--I'm
sure you already figured that out. > > HTH, >> On
10/31/2013 10:33 PM, justin williams wrote: >>
The school will teach you everything you need to
no. >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From:
nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Haley >> Sumner >> Sent: Thursday,
October 31, 2013 10:32 PM >> To: National
Association of Blind Students mailing list >> Cc:
National Association of Blind Students mailing
list >> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Guide Dog or Cane?
Which do u recommend and why? >> >> I love dogs,
but have never had one of my own. So I have to
learn everything in order to independently take
care of the dog on top of all of the stress. I'm
trying to weigh all of the positives and
negatives to see what is best for me. Thanks for
all of your suggestions :-) are there any guide
dog lists that I could join? >> >> Sent from my
iPhone >> >>> On Oct 31, 2013, at 9:28 PM,
"justin williams" <justin.williams2 at gmail.com>
wrote: >>> >>> There is no one way that is
superior. I am a cane user, and I don’t know
if I will get a dog or not. At this time, I
don't have the extra funds to feed and care for
it. I could adapt to using one just fine, but
the cane ain't broke, so why fix it at least for
right now. The question I have for you is, are
you an individual who would like a dog as a
travel buddy, companion and friend? They are
wonderful, and if handled skillfully, are great
at their job and are a wonderful addition to the
life or their owner. >>> >>> -----Original
Message----- >>> From: nabs-l
[mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Kirt >>> Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2013 9:03
PM >>> To: National Association of Blind Students
mailing list >>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Guide Dog
or Cane? Which do u recommend and why? >>> >>>
Haley, I am the cane user and, while I have not
ever experienced a guy dog, i'm pretty convinced
that I'll stick with my cane for the rest of my
life unless something drastic happens to change
my mind. It just works very well for me
And, you
knoww that saying about if it ain't broke then
why fix it? That being said, I don't think either
method of travel is inherently better than the
other, it's entirely a matter of personal
preference and style. That being said, I would
strongly suggest that you have good travel skills
and are competent with the cane before you even
consider getting a dog. Again, canes x are not
superior to dogs in and of themselves
but the
majority of people I know get dogss do it because
their travel skills are not up to par and, like
it or not, I dog probably won't fix that problem.
I would strongly encourage you to get quality
training with the structured discovery travel
method and then decide what works best for you at
that point. If that happens to be a dog instead
of a cane for the majority of your travel, more
power to you. Just make sure you are a competent
traveler before you make that decision. >>> >>>
Sent from my iPhone >>> >>>> On Oct 31, 2013, at
6:05 PM, haley sumner <haleysumner at sbcglobal.net>
wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>> Hello fellow Nabsters, >>>>
I am in the process of deciding whether or not to
get a guide dog in about a year and a half, right
before I go to college, and am still unsure
whether i should go through with this or just
stick with the cane. What do you all recommend?
Which do you feel is better travel-wise,
social-wise, etc. I am looking forward to hearing
about your experiences and preferences. >>>>
Thanks, >>>> Haley Sumner >>>> >>>> >>>>
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>> com > > > -- > Take care, > Ty >
http://tds-solutions.net > He that will not
reason is a bigot; he that cannot reason is a
fool; he that dares not reason is a
slave. > > > >
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