[nagdu] UK / My Tom-Tom is a 7/7 hero

Tue Jul 13 14:18:22 UTC 2010

Convention is a great time to find out just how trusting you are of
your guide. There were plenty of times last week that Gucci strayed
from our path, but when we still wound up at the right place. her
moves were more from going about people or items in our path. However,
whenever I was tempted to redirect her back to where I thought she
should go, I reminded myself of where I was and that she probably knew
best. Of course, there were the few times that she just chose to go a
completely opposite direction, but once I caught onto what she was
doing, I was able to get her back on the right path again.

Wayne

On 7/12/10, Tamara Smith-Kinney <tamara.8024 at comcast.net> wrote:
> Tracy,
>
> There is that.  /smile/  Mitzi did that to me a time or two when she was
> younger, although we never got truly lost.  /lol/  Then again, one of those
> times, the route she chose was, in fact, much safer.  It's possible the
> critter she stopped to bark at was simply a convenient find along the way?
>
> A couple of times, I've played the my-way-or-the-highway card only to get us
> completely screwed up and lost, then we have to go back to where we argued
> about which way to turn ...  Mitzi was right, and she knew just how to get
> us where we wanted to go.  She's pretty smug about it, too.  /smile/
>
> The trick is knowing when to trust your dog to find the safest way and to
> not let them get away with leading you down the garden path to perdition.
> /grin/
>
> I hope to never find out what either of us would *really* do in a disaster
> situation ...  But I like to think that our dogs, although they may be
> clever enough to play us just for fun when they should be on the job, also
> understand their role well enough -- in whatever doggie way -- that they
> know it's time to be all business and take charge to protect the pack (or
> however they understand their relationship to us).
>
> And I think we -- the majority of us -- know when it's time to listen to our
> own instinct and intuition.  As did the man in the story.  There was a huge
> concussion of some sort, his dog did something out of character, and he went
> with the dog.  Would I? Would you?
>
> Well, let's not find out.  /smile/
>
> Tami Smith-Kinney
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Tracy Carcione
> Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 10:58 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] UK / My Tom-Tom is a 7/7 hero
>
> And a remarkably trusting owner.  I'm not sure I would just let my dog go
> a whole different way.  I'd start insisting we go my way, and get us into
> big trouble.
> On the other hand, a friend of mine let her shepherd go a different way,
> figuring there might be a good reason.  Turns out the reason was the dog
> was bored with the regular route, and they ended up wandering around in
> uncharted territory way out of the way until my friend figured out how to
> get back to somewhere she actually wanted to be.
> Tracy
>
>> Wow! What a story!
>>
>> And what a dog! Now *that* is intelligent disobedience!
>>
>> Tami Smith-Kinney
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
>> Of Toni Eames
>> Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2010 3:22 PM
>> To: gdui-friends at yahoogroups.com; nagdu at nfbnet.org;
>> guide-dogs-4-2 at yahoogroups.com; golden-guide-club Moderator
>> Subject: [nagdu] UK / My Tom-Tom is a 7/7 hero
>>
>>
>>><http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3043599/My-Tom-Tom-is-a-77-
> h
>> eroGuide-dog-saved-blind-man-during-77-bombings.html>My
>>>Tom-Tom is a 7/7 hero
>>>Man's best friend ... Mike and his clever pet dog Tom
>>>
>>>THE booming, roaring, snarling of a bomb ripping through a commuter
>>>bus or train is a petrifying experience for any able-bodied person.
>>>
>>>But for blind dad-of-one Dr Michael Townsend, from Fleckney,
>>>Leicestershire, things were a little more daunting when he left the
>>>Tavistock Hotel in central London on the morning of 7th July, 2005.
>>>
>>>Having lost his sight when he was just eight, he walked to a meeting
>>>a mile away from the hotel, almost getting caught in the cross fire
>>>of the bus bomb that blew in Tavistock square.
>>>
>>>But someone was looking out for Mike that day - and not least of all
>>>his newly recruited guide dog Tom.
>>>
>>>While his owner was left unaware to what all the commotion was
>>>about, amazingly Tom the guidedog became his personal sat-nav and
>>>found his own, new and safe route to the meeting Mike was attending.
>>>
>>>Here, he tells us his amazing story.
>>>
>>>"I had always thought that my newest guide dog Tom was a bit on the
>>>scatty side. He was very loyal, and obviously very clever, but he
>>>just struck me as a little soft.
>>>
>>>"But I honestly couldn't have been more wrong about this pup.
>>>
>>>Terrifying scenes ... The Tavistock Square bus blast
>>>
>>>"When I awoke at The Tavistock Hotel on the morning of July 7th, I
>>>could hear commotion, sirens and fire engines but I assumed it was
>>>just the city getting more like New York.
>>>
>>>"Little did I know, there were three bombs on the tubes that day,
>>>and when I left my hotel for a meeting that morning I was about to
>>>be caught up in a fourth one - on the double decker bus.
>>>
>>>"I walked out of our hotel ready for a breakfast meeting. The other
>>>gentleman jumped in a cab, but it was such a glorious day, I decided to
>> walk.
>>>
>>>"Tom took me down to the cross roads, right by the Tavistock hotel.
>>>I had to wait a long while, which was unusual. Blind people feel a
>>>little knarl thing underneath the lights that moves so we can cross,
>>>but it didn't rotate. I usually had the concierge with me to show me
>>>across the road, but not today.
>>>
>>>"The road was quiet, so we just walked across. Suddenly there was a
>>>roar. It wasn't a bang, it was a roar. Like an animal being hurt.
>>>People started rushing towards it, in the commotion, nobody told me
>>>what was going on. It was frightening.
>>>
>>>Streets ahead ... Mike won't let the experience affect his life
>>>
>>>"Tom started to pull me violently in the wrong direction. He paused
>>>and instead of going straight on, he turned right. This isn't so
>>>good, I thought, this isn't the way Tom! I tried to persuade him to
>>>go straight on.
>>>
>>>"Up and down roads I didn't recognise we went, I felt buildings I
>>>had never experienced before.
>>>
>>>"Then suddenly, it smelt like the office we were going to -
>>>unbelievably we had found it, a new route. My guide dog Tom had
>>>become my Tom-Tom!
>>>
>>>"There were gasps when I walked into the room. The rest of my
>>>meeting thought we had got tangled up in the bus bomb. When they
>>>told me all about the commotion, I was flabbergasted.
>>>
>>>"Another member of our meeting even came in with a burnt jacket, he
>>>had got caught up in the Edgeware road bombings earlier.
>>>
>>>"Like true Brits, we did what we do best and just got on with it. We
>>>carried out the audit meeting and finished it like true professionals.
>>>
>>>"The true extent of the miracle that had happened to me, thanks to
>>>my dog Tom, came to me a few days later. I found out that an
>>>American woman, who had been escorted to the crossing by the
>>>concierge, had been blown up by the bomb on the bus and killed just
>>>minutes after I had stood there waiting for the lights.
>>>
>>>"But even how shockingly close this encounter was for me has not
>>>stopped me doing what I want. I will not give the terrorists what
>>>they want and become a recluser. I was back in Tavistock Square a
>>>week later and it's never put me off public transport.
>>>
>>>"I've had a lot of knocks in my life as a blind person and I have
>>>learned to handle them readily and deal with them
>>>
>>>"Tom is now the most special dog in the world to me, I know I can
>>>rely on his capabilities. Witout him, I certainly might not be here
>>>to tell my story.
>>>
>>>"He goes everywhere with me - even as far as Los Angeles. He was
>>>even the first guide dog to ever set foot in Romania. I couldn't
>>>face the world without his help. Without him, I might not be here."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Read more:
>>><http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3043599/My-Tom-Tom-is-a-77-
> h
>>
> eroGuide-dog-saved-blind-man-during-77-bombings.html#ixzz0t0ymgrXr>http://ww
>>
> w.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3043599/My-Tom-Tom-is-a-77-heroGuide-do
>> g-saved-blind-man-during-77-bombings.html#ixzz0t0ymgrXr
>>>
>>>http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3043599/My-Tom-Tom-is-a-77-h
> e
>> roGuide-dog-saved-blind-man-during-77-bombings.html
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
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