[nagdu] cane skills as prerequisite for guide dog

[Tracy Carcione]

Marion, I don't necessarily agree that good cane skills should be a
prerequisite for getting a guide dog.  It's a nice theory.  It would
certainly be helpful.  But I know too many people who don't have
spectacular cane skills, but do great with a dog.  Some of them are older
people, who started getting dogs when cane training was not very
available.  Some of them are from places where services for blind people
are not very good.  Some of them went blind as senior citizens, and quite
a few agencies don't serve that population very well, since they won't be
employed.  Should we tell these people they have to wait until they can
somehow get cane training?  I don't think so. I've met enough people for
whom the dog was the thing that got them back out, living their lives, and
I think getting out and living one's life is a great thing. I'm not
willing to stand in someone's way over whether or not their cane skills
measure up to some philosophical mark.

Should we take good orientation as good enough?  Or should the guide dog
schools offer cane training to prospective applicants who they feel should
have it? They seem like reasonable approaches to me, and I believe they
are
the ones being carried out. Encouraging good cane skills is fine, but I
wouldn't make it a prerequisite for a guide dog.
Tracy