[nagdu] blazing trails with tails.

[Tami Jarvis]

Daniel,

I do wonder about all those sighted people just hanging around waiting 
for us to ask them for help everywhere we go since we can't figure 
things out ourselves and they have nothing better to do... Sheesh!

I just get up and go. Did that with my cane, do that with my dog. It 
works. I do find out as much as I can about a new area or new route, 
whether through internet research or by asking questions of people I may 
know in the area. It can help to know how the area is laid out, how the 
streets run, etc. In a new city, figuring out the naming conventions is 
helpful, too. And I'm not afraid to ask for directions along the way, or 
to ask an innocent bystander the  name of the street I'm on if I've 
forgotten to count blocks, stuff like that. I have a fairly good sense 
of direction, which helps, although when it goes haywire, then so do I. 
Fortunately, for those times, I also enjoy unexpected adventures, so 
long as they don't make me horribly late for something. My poodle guide 
is also great at finding any number of useful landmarks of various 
types, so I love that. She does get a little put out if I go awry and 
end up doing a lot of back and forth trying to get back to the last 
place I actually knew where I was. /smile/

Heading out for new horizons is a time it's good to have a pocket cane 
of some sort for added information gathering. Also, if you have hearing, 
that's very helpful in picking up things about your location from 
context... Maybe I'm being too obvious there. I know folks without 
hearing, or not much of it, who can sally forth and conquer, but I have 
no idea how they do it. I use mine a lot, and also use the clicker for 
echolocation, even with my cane. Don't know when I started doing that 
during/after the training process, or how it didn't confuse my dog, but 
there we go. When the wind is blowing or I have a head cold or 
something, things get iffier for us.

I would say that it doesn't hurt when finding new routes to be willing 
to admit defeat when, say, a five-way intersection is just too dangerous 
and go the extra mile to find a better way even when you're really 
tired. Well, I've done some adventuring when I was having fatigue issues 
where really tired meant picking up one foot or the other was really the 
hardest thing in the world to do... When I'm not having fatigue issues, 
then having to go around a few blocks isn't a huge deal.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Tami



On 07/20/2013 06:37 PM, daniel wrote:
> Hey guys, as yall know I'm going to be moving to a new town for college
> quite soon. While I was in training (I can't remember if it was an
> instructor or not) someone off-handedly said something like, always have a
> sighted person help you on a new route or something.I've always been a
> really independent person trying new routes and what not. I can understand
> getting some orientation help in a new place but for everything? How do yall
> feel about going new places without an advanced orientation session or such?
> Do yall usually stick to a preplanned set of routes or do yall sometimes go
> new places just for the heck of it? I'm asking this from a dog users
> perspective, how does your dog react on a new route or a place, and
> especially if any of yall have moved to a new city or home, how did yall get
> used to the new surroundings?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dan
>
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