[nagdu] Thinking of getting a guide dog

[Julie J.]

Matt,

Welcome!  I'm Julie, working with Monty my owner trained lab and Boxer 
guide.  I trained him the same way that everyone is describing.  He'll 
stop a few inches before a step down, drop off, hole etc.  I move a bit 
more forward from where I follow him when we are moving, so that I am 
pretty close to where his shoulders are.  Then I reach out with my foot 
to find the exact place of the edge if there is one.  He will stop at a 
street corner even if the curb is blended.  In that case if I'm not sure 
where I am exactly I'll reach out with my foot to the side where I can 
feel the curb where it isn't blended into the street.  I hope I'm 
explaining that okay.  This rarely happens, only maybe if I'm in an 
unfamiliar area and there is no traffic to know where the street is.

Generally if there is junk on the sidewalk Monty will take me around 
without any input from me.  However if he needs to go out to the street 
or he needs to make a large adjustment to our path of travel, he will 
stop and wait for further instructions from me.  Sometimes I have a clue 
what is going on and sometimes I don't.  Usually I will ask Monty to go 
around.  If that doesn't work, I'll double back and choose an entirely 
different path.  I can probably count the number of times this has 
happened on one hand.

For steps up Monty is supposed to put his feet up on the bottom step.  
Because he is so tall he can get away with stepping up two stairs which 
I am working on retraining back to just the first step.  Also if you pay 
attention to the sounds and the way they echo you can figure out if the 
stairs are going up or down before you approach.  Some dogs are also 
taught to indicate the stair railing with their nose.

The dog will indicate anything he has been taught to find, door handles, 
trash cans, empty chaires etc with his nose.  Then you reach out with 
your hand to locate the object.

Of course if all else fails and I am hopelessly clueless about what 
Monty is trying to communicate to me, I will get out my folding cane and 
check it out.  I did this more in the beginning, but not so much in the 
past couple of years.  Still it's a handy tool if I need it.

HTH
Julie



On 8/17/2012 9:30 PM, Matt Gilman wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> I am new to this list and I have been considering getting a guide dog for some time now.  I know I have questions but I really don't know what they are.  I have a feeling once i start getting some  replies
> I might start figuring these questions out.
>
> I am not sure how guide dogs really work in the sense of feeling edges. For example with my cane I can feel the curb coming up and know where the edge is but with a dog how does this work?  Also the same goes for steps.How will I know if they go up or down with a dog?  With a cane I can feel them and know instantly.  this is just one example of my thinking.
>
> I am totally a dog person and have been for a very long time.  My wife is also a vet tech.  If this doesn't say that we are dog people I don't know what does.  I heard that you shouldn't have a guide dog while  you have other dogs in the house?  I currently have 2 dogs as pets.  Is this and issue?
>
> Thanks for all the help.
>
> Matt.
>
> Matt gilman
> www.blindbiketrials.com
> Matt at blindbiketrials.com
> 443-650-8441
>
> Matt Gilman
> Www.blindbiketrials.com
> 443-650-8441
> Sent from my talking iPhone. Siri probably wrote this email.
>
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