[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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