[nagdu] blazing trails with tails.

Sun Jul 21 17:06:06 UTC 2013

Tami, I have always applied similar strategies to yours and now, with my 
IPhone and the Blindsquare GPS, I have one more amazing tool which also 
protects me against asking Jo public for information which my IPhone usually 
gives more accurately.  Even Siri is helpful, I simply ask the amazing 
question "where am I," and get enough information so that if I need more, I 
can make my question to the panicked bystander as clear as possible.

Also, I've always trusted my dogs who often give cues if they happen to 
remember a particular location.  Just for fun, I often allowed my dogs to 
choose their own route (with limits of course) if I'm just going out for a 
walk as an end in itself.  It's quite neat when my dogs get something right 
when I screw up; the tail goes nuts.  Only thing is, sometimes they've found 
locations of past girlfriends, lovers etc about which I'd much rather 
forget.

I like to walk a lot through wooded areas where there no sidewalks and some 
roads less traveled therein can be difficult to pick out, but not for a 
seasoned dog.

Doug: Happy tails to you!

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tami Jarvis" <tami at poodlemutt.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 21, 2013 11:02 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] blazing trails with tails.

: 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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