[nagdu] questions about having a guide dog

Buddy Brannan buddy at brannan.name
Wed Aug 31 01:51:59 UTC 2011


Hi again,

No. You don't need to be a "great cane traveler". You should, however, be able to orient yourself, so that you have an idea of where you are. Failing that, you should be able to map out a plan to find where you are. This so you can direct your dog. 

Dogs have a lot of advantages. Ones that come to mind are that they make crossing wide open spaces (think parking lots, or open plazas on college campuses) much easier. They also have, generally speaking, phenomenal memories for places, meaning that once they've been somewhere, they will often remember that place and more easily go there again. Of course, a guide dog is also great in that the will give you a little bit of an edge with traffic. It's still up to you to determine the safest time to cross, but once you're in a crossing, your dog does watch for traffic. A real help with street crossing, but you still have to be able to read the intersection properly. If this is a concern for you, I would definitely recommend you get some additional help in this area, as your dog will do a lot but can't compensate 100% for an inability to read an intersection and determine when it is safe to cross. 
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY



On Aug 30, 2011, at 9:30 PM, Tatyana wrote:

> Hi all,
> Thanks to you  all so much for your detailed and informative answers. I very appreciate  that you take my  questions so closely. I need to process through all that you've said.  Of cause I'll have  more questions. My neighborhood is very walkable so I can rich  any place myself but from other hand if I would have a dog I could expand an area of my trips. I feel very limited with my mobility skills crossing major intersections without an audio signal. And  I can't cross an  unfamiliar intersection
> 
> Would a having a dog make a difference?
> 
> I understand,  that I do give a command to a dog not a dog walk me to other side.
> 
> Does that mean I need to be  first a great cane user traveler before getting a dog?
> 
> If so, what would  be a role of a dog crossing streets if I would be a great traveler my self? Why I would need it?
> 
> Thanks again for your time.
> 
> Tatyana.
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Julie J." <julielj at neb.rr.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 8:30 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] questions about having a guide dog
> 
> 
>> Tatyana,
>> 
>> Thanks for joining us on the list!  I'm Julie, one of the moderators. Your questions don't have any hard and fast answers, but I'll give you my take.
>> 
>> Can a dog handle a plane ride of 11 hours?
>> Depends on the dog.  Some dogs could do it.  Don't feed or water before going and be sure to give ample opportunity to relieve beforehand.  If you can work the trip into an overnight thing so the dog will be sleeping that would probably be best.   My older retired guide dog frequently goes from 8 pm to 8 am or later without going outside.  She has the opportunity, she just chooses not to take it sometimes.
>> 
>> Can a guide dog go two weeks without working and maintain it's skills?
>> Yes, absolutely.  Last summer I had an accident and couldn't work Monty for a couple of weeks.  He jumped back into guiding like he hadn't missed a day.  this summer I broke my foot.  Monty hasn't worked in 5 weeks and I expect it will be another 8 before he'll be working again.  He may need a bit of brush up training to get back into tip top condition, but I expect the core skills will still be there.
>> 
>> Now if you are asking about being separated from the dog for two weeks that is a bit different.  I do send my guide to the dog sitter sometimes when I travel.  He really likes it there.  The longest I've ever left him was 10 days.  I think if I had it to do over I'd try to limit the separation to a week.  I also don't leave him frequently, maybe once a year or less.  all that said, life happens and you do what you have to do. If you need to be separated for two weeks or longer it can be worked out.
>> 
>> Do I have access problems frequently?
>> No.  Actually I've only had one and it was resolved through my explaining things to the hotel clerk.  the entire episode lasted only a few minutes and was resolved to my complete satisfaction.  I live in the U.S. in a rural agricultural based area.  People here are used to dogs with jobs.  I don't use taxi's since there aren't any.  Access problems and their frequency seem to vary quite a bit depending on location and type of places you frequent.  I don't want to sound judgmental, but ethnic restaurants are notorious for access issues as are taxi's with ethnically diverse drivers.
>> 
>> I'm glad you're asking questions!  It would be concerning if you had no questions about getting a guide dog.  Again, welcome to the list!  If you think of anything else ask away!
>> Julie
>> 
>> 
>> On 8/30/2011 6:35 PM, Tatyana wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>> I'm not a guide dog user, still can't decide.Many, many questions.
>>> 
>>> Can a dog stand 11 hours in an airplane before to relief?
>>> 
>>> If you are not taking a dog with you while you're on leave, can a dog stay without  you for 2 weeks and not lose its shape as a service dog? Wouldn't it be also  a bad psychological impact?
>>> 
>>> How often do you need to fight for the  right  to bring  a   dog with you in restaurants, pools,  medical offices and other public places? Is it something that you do all the time or you get  mostly normal attitude from employees?
>>> 
>>> Thank you and all the best
>>> Tatyana.
>>> 
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>> 
>> 
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> 
> 
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