[nagdu] Trust and traffic

[Julie J.]

Monty started pulling forward a bit when he thought it was safe to cross the 
street.  I think he pieced together  that I'd cue him to go forward when the 
parallel traffic started to go.  I've noticed he does watch all the traffic. 
It freaked me out quite a lot when he first did it.  It doesn't bother me so 
much now.  In the beginning I'd wait an entire traffic cycle before letting 
him move out.  I wanted him to very clearly understand it would be me making 
the decision to set out.  He doesn't do it all that often now.  I like his 
very high level of initiative, but I'm not comfortable with him making the 
street crossing decisions.  I feel like he's the back up plan, not the 
primary safety patrol for street crossings.

I thought a lot about this the first time he indicated when he felt like it 
was safe to cross and came to my own conclusions based on my own comfort 
level.  I can think of at least one owner trainer with a hearing loss that 
does allow her dog to make the decision of when to cross streets.  She lives 
in rural New Zealand though, so no idea of what the traffic is like compared 
to what you are encountering.  I also have no idea what others with hearing 
loss do.

HTH
Julie





-----Original Message----- 
From: Tami Jarvis
Sent: Monday, June 03, 2013 10:51 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: [nagdu] Trust and traffic

Hey, all!

My city-trained dog and I have been doing more work in our small town,
adjusting to the more relaxed and, well, empty environment. All the
peace and quiet and lack of constant whizzing traffic and crowds is
totally stressing me out. /lol/

Without all that auditory feedback I'm used to, I have no clue what is
going on, what is what, or what traffic is doing besides being fairly
random. Heaven forbid the wind blows, because then I am really uncertain!

I've always tried to stick closely to the rule that I am the one to
decide when to cross the street, using my hearing, but counting on Mitzi
for traffic checks. She has never totally agreed with this approach, so
she always lets me know when she thinks it's time to cross. I did
convince her to wait until I tell her "forward" to actually go, which
took some doing. /lol/ I have noticed that she is as close to always
right as makes no never mind. Even when I decide to wait because I'm not
sure, when things sort themselves out I will realize we could have gone
safely with time to spare when she cued me.

I suddenly remembered that over the past few years, the guide dog
programs have been providing more and more dogs to folks who also have
hearing loss. Doesn't that require different means of judging traffic
and deciding with the dog when to cross the street?

I would love to hear how others handle the decision to step into the
street with their guides!

Tami

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