[nagdu] dog adaptability and expectations

Thu Apr 1 05:34:14 UTC 2010

Martha,

Awesome!  I did the rural to city thing myself, sans good O&M training.  I
had some, but it was all about walking around the block, which I knew how to
do, and not about traveling in the context of my reali life, which I had
been doing without their teacing me to walk about the block....  /lol/ So my
realife city travel as a blind woman with a cane, then with a guide dog, was
quite the adventure!

Our state VR is a little, er, wiggy, so I never worked out the details to
get to an NFB center when I had the time and needed it.  I had lived in
cities before, driving and walking as a sighted woman, but learning to do it
all again with the cane and the dog and the constant where the heck am I did
get exhausting at times. 

I'm glad you're getting to go, and I really hope they help you with
accommodating Dee while you're there so that you and she (?) can continue to
grow in your work and your bond.  When you first asked, I didn't realize you
were an experienced handler already.  That should go a long way in your
helping Dee with the transitions.

Then, grad school!  /smile/  I have a couple of friends who are either or
major or minor undergrad SoAs, so I'm getting lots of vicarious education
from them and even getting to read some of their papers...  How's that for
getting an education without the bother of going to school?  /grin/  I think
it's great that you're going to grad school to continue your study.  If you
want to send papers and theses...  Kidding!

Oh.  I live in Portland, Oregon, and I am currently working a 4-year-old
owner-trained poodle guide named Mitzi.  She's a country turned city girl,
too, and we have had a whole lot of adventure in the big city together!
She's also great on trails and hikes and the like.  You know how we country
girls are.  ?grin/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Martha Harris
Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 7:13 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] dog adaptability and expectations

Hi Dan,
I think going to BLIND Inc. will help with my travel skills and confidence 
because I do not know how to travel efficiently in unfamiliar areas. I am 
also from a rural area with little traffic, and I want to move to a city for

grad school and a job. I need to be able to travel independently because I 
am a journalism major, and work could change every day. I am also a 
sociology major, which requires conferences, travel for research, eTC. Going

to BLIND Inc. will help me gain the skills and be able to use them no matter

where I go.

Martha

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Dan Weiner" <dcwein at dcwein.cnc.net>
Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 12:50 AM
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [nagdu] dog adaptability and expectations

> Or, the big question, if you've had a dog and training and so forth, why 
> do
> you think you'll be so much more of a confident traveler after Blind Inc.
> Not to attack you personally, as I have nothing against you or anyone 
> else,
> but I think crating a dog for so long dduring the day really isn't the
> greatest idea, especially during your first year.  The NFB centers should 
> be
> ashamed of themselves.
>
> JMO,
>
> Dan W. and the Carter Nut
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Martha Harris
> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 9:11 PM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nagdu] dog adaptability and expectations
>
> Hi Everyone,
> I have been working with my lab Dee since November of last year, and in 
> May,
> I will have her for six months. I am going to BLIND Inc. where she will be
> crated for 7-8 hours per day. However, I will walk as often as I can to 
> the
> center, which is 1.3 miles or so each way, plus work in the evenings and 
> on
> weekends. Many guide dog users say I will "ruin the dog," and it is not 
> good
> to make a dog change routine so drastically because it takes six months to

> a
> year to become solid. However, I think learning the discovery method will
> help us be a more solid team because I will be able to travel with
> confidence to familiar and unfamiliar places. Is it expectations preached 
> by
> the guide dog schools because they don't believe blind people can handle
> sudden change? Is it that some guide dog users have less confidence in
> themselves and don't believe change is good for them or their dogs, or am 
> I
> way off base thinking like this?
>
> Martha
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