[nagdu] a cane and dog discussion

[Albert J Rizzi]

Hello all,

Was not sure if I were going to chime in here or not. cane versus dog. I
choose dog all the way. as a recent entrant into the community, and in
assessing my needs from a tactile standpoint, I find the dog much better as
well as expeditious for my needs. I find that when my cane taps something I
am 99% inclined to reach out and touch whatever it is that is in my path. I
do this for my own knowledge of what is on my path and just for the
curiosity of it all. with my guide none of that ever happens. I could be
walking through an obstacle course full of pot holes or pillars and never
once want to nor need to know what it is I avoided. Add to that the issue of
my sighted peers not seeing what they are looking at and again I choose the
dog hands down. I had my cane stepped on and snapped three times in my first
4 months of being blind. that was enough experience for me to not want to
use the cane. The dog for one reason or another catches the eyes of the
sighted, it minimizes accidental cane breakage and it always opens the door
for a dialogue or discussion where the cane sort of acts like a dome of
silence which at first glance is impenetrable  by the sighted community. so
power to the pup for me anyway. Peace.


Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
Founder
My Blind Spot, Inc.
90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
New York, New York  10004
www.myblindspot.org
PH: 917-553-0347
Fax: 212-858-5759
"The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
doing it."


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-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Sheila Leigland
Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 10:06 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] a cane and dog discussion

I think it depends on the situations that a person deals with daily. I do
much better with a dog in snow and on ice than I did with a cane. I used a
cane exclusivily until almost eleven years ago when I got my first dog.my
first dog. I've known cane users that have no interest in getting a dog and
that is fine. I don't know people that have lost there cane skills but I've
heard of it.. 

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