[nagdu] O&M services with a dog

[Cindy Ray]

I would tell the person, first of all, that I needed them to walk behind me and to my right. I would say what kind of landmarks I needed, ask about the traffic patterns at the intersections, maybe have the person describe to me something about what is happening between changes of the lights, or if there are traffic signals or top signs or nothing. Lots of stuff you can figure out on your own; sometimes, though, it is easier on you and, perhaps, on your dog, if you don't have to do a lot of trial and error. Some of it you can do with a cane. I would choose somewhere I wanted to go and have the person go with me, but I would work it and get feedback from the person concrning errors I made or helpful hints if those things weren't obvious to me. I've actually done this twice. The first time was with a mobility instructor, and I taught him more than he taught me. The second time was with my rehab counselor. I taught him some, too, but he helped me by telling me some things that we were passing. I was having particular problems with corners. There are flagstones at these corners, and the dog was trying to take the plain walk, but that was taking us away from where we wanted to go. I needed a good feel for how to go so I could give the dogs immediate and very authoritative feedback.

Cindy Lou

On Oct 15, 2012, at 10:36 AM, Tracy Carcione wrote:

> Hi Cindy and Margo.
> What do you tell them you need?  It's been about 30 years, but I think I
> told the last O&M person I tried to work with that I needed to find the
> best way to work a complicated intersection.  I remember he was a nice
> guy, but not very helpful with my problem.
> When I was working with a TSE instructor on something or other, she
> pointed out that the crosswalk was shortly after a sloping driveway, which
> was a helpful landmark. She pointed out that something else I wanted Ben
> to find was just past a big opening. So do you tell the O&M guy you need
> that kind of landmark?  If I know the kinds of landmarks I need, I can
> just figure it out on my own, which is pretty much what I do.  But it was
> helpful to have the instructor point out things I hadn't noticed.
> So what, specifically, do you tell the O&M person you need?
> Tracy
> 
>> I know that lots of these folks don't know much about dog use, but as they
>> show us a route, can't we tell them what we need? That's how I've dealt
>> with any here.
>> 
>> Cindy Lou
>> 
>> On Oct 13, 2012, at 9:33 AM, Margo and Arrow wrote:
>> 
>>> We have an O and M instructor in this area who's very familiar with how
>>> guide dog teams work.  I hear she's leaving, though.  I think one or two
>>> of the O and M instructors at our private blindness agency know about
>>> dogs, too, but, yes, those are few and far between.  I know some of the
>>> schools offer O and M people the opportunity to work with a dog, etc.,
>>> but I wonder how much they get to learn in the space of a couple of
>>> days.  In other words, do they learn enough to be able to help someone
>>> learn a route or to know what the dog is or isn't dong or the owner is
>>> or isn't doing.
>>> 
>>> Margo and Arrow
>>> 
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> 
> 
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