[nagdu] Washington - Guide dog killed crossing Kennewick street

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Dan,

In other words, yes, officer, my dog is so exceptionally well trained that
it knows enough to directly disobey or even stop my physically if I try to
cross the street when it's not safe...

But, in case you hadn't noticed, it's a *dog*!!!

Well, you're right.  The simple answer won't get you far with people who are
unfamiliar with nonvisual travel techniques and the nitty gritty of guide
dog use.

I just try to remind myself that, while Mitzi knows enough to watch traffic,
to practice intelligent disobedience and even to perform hard traffic
checks...  She's a *dog*!  Her instinct is not to notice cars, but that
flirty squirrel just on the other side of the road, begging her to run chase
it.

Okay, so now that I've reminded myself of this, I am never crossing the
street again...  Kidding!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Dan Weiner
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 2:50 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Washington - Guide dog killed crossing Kennewick street

I agree with you totally, Albert.
I was bringing up that scenario because I wouldn't put it past some law
enforcement people who might not be acquainted with blind travel techniques
to say that type of thing.
I, especially in my first months as a guide dog user, had several crossing
against the light incidents  after  which I was told by nasty bystanders, ,
"your dog's badly trained, he crossed you against the light, you should get
another one".
This business of thinking that a guide dog reads traffic, this old wives'
tale has been one of the most annoying things I've dealt with as a guide dog
user.

Once I was talking to a police officer I know from the neighborhood about
the White Cane Law, and he asked "well, wouldn't your dog keep you safe and
not let you cross when a car's coming".
We all know that the answer to that one is more complicated than "yes " or
"no" because it's you and your well-trained dog against someone behind of
the wheel of a big metal machine.
Anyway, it took me a few minutes to really explain to this very nice officer
that cars are required to give thee right of way and my dog's training
wouldn't make me responsible if something happened 
Because my dog didn't "do his job" in quotations.

Now, having said all of this, let's hope that all of us will only have to
discusses this hypothetically.  Take care of yourselves, two-legged and
four-legged friends.

Dan and Carter 
-----Original M


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