[nagdu] blazing trails with tails.

Sun Jul 21 17:25:05 UTC 2013

Doug, I have done that as well! I remember one time when I was new to Ann 
Arbor, I got lost and wandered into a building. I said, "Where the Hell am 
I!" and the guy told me I was in the Catholic church and that he was the 
Priest! Well, we sure got a laugh out of that one4!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doug Parisian" <eggmann at mymts.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 21, 2013 1:06 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] blazing trails with tails.


> 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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