[nagdu] re sighted guides

Wed Feb 17 23:43:20 UTC 2010

Sorry, to clarify, I hold my friend's wheelchair sometimes, not all the 
time.

Michelle
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michelle" <m-johnson at bigpond.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 8:37 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] re sighted guides

> Hi Gary,
>
> I don't have a partner as such, but I can tell you that I do sighted guide
> with Troy occasionally, when I really really have to. My friend as a
> wheelchair, so I just drop the harness and hold the back of the wheelchair
> while he heels beside me. Last week at church, I was getting my dog to
> follow someone while she was reading the different forms at various tables
> to make my choice of ministry to sign up to. So anyway, I decided that
> because of the crowd and the milling around, the stopping and starting, I
> asked this person if I could hold her arm. She accepted it, and it appears
> to me as though she knew I'd need some help anyway, because she told me
> she'd wait for me to let her know what I want her to do. I found sighted
> guide a lot easier, as we were able to walk quicker from table to table in
> amongst the crowd without taking up our time with giving Troy directions. 
> If
> it was another situation, I'd just get him to follow through the crowd
> anyway, but only in most situations. Basically if it's going to take extra
> time for the dog to help you when you don't have that time on your hands 
> for
> any reason, or don't want to hold somebody else up, just take their arm.
>
> Hope that helps,
>
> Michelle
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "GARY STEEVES" <rainshadowmusic at shaw.ca>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 7:06 AM
> Subject: [nagdu] re sighted guides
>
>
>> Hello Everyone:
>>
>> A question that has popped into my mind of late is how one deals with a
>> sighted guide. I do a lot of things on my own which will be wonderful 
>> with
>> a dog. On the other hand, on the weekends especially, me and my 
>> girlfriend
>> go out and about doing the things we need or like to do.
>>
>> I'm sure this will be covered at my school but I was curious how others
>> deal with this. When I'm out with my girlfriend I am often holding hands
>> (romantic as I am :), sometimes an elbow if we're doing more technical
>> navigations like busy stores. So with a guide dog how does one still be
>> able to be with their partner and have their dog out with them as well?
>> Hopefully my question is making sense. If not, ask me more and I will
>> clarify or think of better examples.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Gary
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Tamara Smith-Kinney <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
>> Date: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 12:52 pm
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] How to encourage dog initiative
>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>
>>> Tracy,
>>>
>>> Nope.  My sighted help is not trained!  /grin/  I
>>> am as bad, if not worse,
>>> than the dog at preventing myself from getting sloppy when said
>>> sighted help
>>> is around.  We're still trying to both build up our good
>>> habits, not slack
>>> into bad ones! /smile/
>>>
>>> I once decided to trust Mitzi's judgment on a pleasant country
>>> route beside
>>> a fairly dangerous roadway.  So I got to go with her to go
>>> bark at a goat.
>>> /smile/  I was so proud of myself for letting her guide me
>>> safely and surely
>>> across the grass to the safer path beyond, then I just wanted to
>>> jump up and
>>> down and scream.  Also, I had a heck of an argument on my
>>> hands convincing
>>> her that this was not what she was supposed to be doing right
>>> now.  I was
>>> embarrassed to be doing all of this in front of what I guess to
>>> be a goat.
>>> The goat did not appear to care.  /grin/
>>>
>>> She still pauses for a half beat to look towards that goat's
>>> pasture, and I
>>> automatically say, "Don't even think about it."  Which she
>>> clearly does
>>> before deciding to go ahead and do her boring old job.  /smile/
>>>
>>> Tami Smith-Kinney
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>> On Behalf
>>> Of Tracy Carcione
>>> Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 6:15 AM
>>> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] How to encourage dog initiative
>>>
>>> It's been a while since I've had a new dog, knock wood, but I
>>> think that
>>> what I do to encourage initiative is to encourage the dog to make
>>> decisions when we get into a situation, and show him that I'm
>>> willing to
>>> go with his decisions once he makes one.  At first, this
>>> can involve
>>> standing somewhere and saying Hup-up in a cheerful way, and
>>> sometimes some
>>> gentle handwaving to suggest possibilities.  I've even
>>> found myself giving
>>> that wonderfully mystic GDF command "Find the Way!"
>>> In my experience, this kind of thing requires me to work my dog
>>> on my own
>>> quite a bit.  Standing still and waiting for the dog to
>>> figure out a
>>> challenge seems to drive sighted people buggy.  Even if I
>>> explain before
>>> we set out that I am trying to teach the dog that he can figure
>>> things out
>>> without much help, when the situation comes up, the sighted
>>> person barges
>>> ahead saying "Oh come on; this way."  So, instead of the
>>> dog learning that
>>> he can make decisions, he learns that if he waits, someone will
>>> go ahead
>>> and he can follow them.  Not the conclusion I want.
>>> Someone told me that
>>> her dog would look around for a sighted person to follow, if the
>>> dog felt
>>> her person was confused.  That's initiative too, but not
>>> the kind I want.
>>> So, for me, it's really important to work with my dog alone in the
>>> beginning.  Maybe other people have better control of their
>>> sightedpartners than I do, but for me they can be quite a
>>> hindrance to
>>> team-building.
>>>
>>> In the beginning, and not much after either, I wouldn't expect
>>> the dog to
>>> figure things out if I was facing the whole wrong way or
>>> something. An
>>> experienced dog can sometimes figure that out, but really it's
>>> my job to
>>> at least aim in the generally right direction.
>>> Although once, at a state convention banquet, I had to step out,
>>> and I
>>> pointed the way I thought we should go and told Echo
>>> "Outside!"  She led
>>> me the other way than I pointed, around the table and to a clear
>>> aisle,and then took me to the door.  I was very
>>> impressed.  Just like in the
>>> Seeing Eye dog books!
>>>
>>> I may have messed up Ben's initiative a bit by not trusting his
>>> decisions. It's hard for me to tell when he's going around
>>> something and when he's
>>> going to sniff something, especially in suburbia, where the work
>>> is less
>>> challenging and he gets more distracted. Luckily, Ben has lots of
>>> confidence and initiative, so I haven't made a complete hash of
>>> things.Tracy
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nagdu mailing list
>>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account
>>> info for nagdu:
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/tamara.8024%40comcast
>>> .net
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nagdu mailing list
>>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account
>>> info for nagdu:
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/rainshadowmusic%40shaw.ca
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nagdu mailing list
>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nagdu:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/m-johnson%40bigpond.com
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2692 - Release Date: 02/16/10
> 19:35:00
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nagdu:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/m-johnson%40bigpond.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2693 - Release Date: 02/17/10 
07:35:00