[nagdu] a cane and dog discussion

[Tami Kinney]

Oh! See? You just really clarified a whole line of related thought on
O&M and a couple of other things for me with your discussion of the
place of motivation and perseverance.  Also, if you do not have access
to a good instructor, people who will answer questions and discuss
technigques and alternatives to help you figure it out.  /lol/  With
O&M, especially when you're new to it, extra portions of both are
required because you have to overcome your own fears in the process of
learning.  Well, I did!  But the choice was go out or stay home, so I
guess I'm more scared of being stuck in the house than I am of the great
unknown I then needed to figure out with a white cane I didn't know how
to use...  Then the switch to dog, which was ridiculously scary even
though I had spent and awful lot of time training her so that I could
use her as a guide dog.  But there's a lot of sensory differences
between cane use and guide dog use, so you have to learn on a
neurological level, too, which can be troubling to the conscious mind.
Well, to mine at least.  /smile/

Have a hassle free time with Monty at the conference!

On Mon, 2011-06-20 at 07:26 -0500, Julie J. wrote:
> My thoughts on this topic have changed over time and I still think I 
> have a long way to go to get to the core of it.  Anyhow here's my 
> current thinking.
> 
> I think guide dog users and cane users have the potential to be amazing 
> travelers.  I think how good of a traveler you are is partly due to 
> inherent talent, partly to a good instructor and mostly to do with 
> practice and perseverance.
> I've met really good and really bad travelers from both groups-dogs and 
> canes.  Dog users do have to be more committed to the practice portion 
> of the equation though.  Guide dog programs also require some level of 
> cane skill before getting a guide.  I suppose this does eliminate a few 
> people from getting a dog.  Although if they have the perseverance part 
> of the equation, they could acquire the skills they need to qualify for 
> the dog.  So in the end, for me, it comes down to motivation.  How 
> motivated a person is to be a good traveler is going to have a huge 
> impact on how well they travel, cane or dog.
> 
> I'm a good traveler with either tool.  My preference is obviously a 
> guide dog, but I don't feel any hesitation in leaving Monty behind if 
> that is what is best.  Well, I don't hesitate due to travel worries, but 
> I do miss him.
> 
> Like Cindy, I worry about finding suitable places to relieve Monty when 
> I travel to other cities.  Sometimes when entering a new restaurant or 
> business I wonder if I am going to have access problems.  Next week I am 
> attending a training thing for work.  the event is taking place at an 
> Asian Center.  It does stress me a bit, knowing that there could be an 
> access issue.
> 
> JMHO
> Julie J.
> 
> 
> On 6/20/2011 1:46 AM, Julie McGinnity wrote:
> > Hello everyone.
> >
> > It is very late, so I hope I make sense as I pose the following
> > discussion to you.  A friend and I are engaged in an interesting
> > arguement.  We are talking about guide dog users and how much they use
> > their canes and a few other things.  I'd just like to pose a few
> > questions.  (Some of them may seem rather basic.)
> >
> > Do you think that guide dog users are just as independent as cane
> > users when it comes to travelling?
> >
> > Do you think you lose cane skills if  you use a dog the majority of the time?
> >
> >
> > Do you think that the majority of dog handlers are bad cane users?
> >
> > I know these are really general questions, and if you can't answer
> > them with direct answers, please, just your observations or
> > experiences will suffice.  I'm just very curious about this.  I want
> > to know what people think, and I don't really want to seem too
> > invested in this or as though I am taking a side.  I'm pretty young
> > and a relatively new guide dog user, so I know there are things I
> > don't know and haven't seen yet.  I'm more interested in what you guys
> > say.
> >
> > Thanks.  Sorry if my late night/early morning ramblings make no sense.
> >
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 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