[nagdu] The Differences in Dogs and Canes

[Tracy Carcione]

I work in New York City.  In midtown Manhattan especially, there are often
crowds of people standing at street corners or waiting in line by food
carts on the sidewalk.  The only way to get where I'm going is to be able
to work through a crowd of people, either to get to the curb, or get out
of the street, or to just move on down the road.  There are even times,
near Times Square or Broadway, where tourists stop in the middle of the
street to take pictures!  Working through a crowd is not the same as
plowing through it.  Ben looks for the spaces, and we can make it through
without bumping anyone, though sometimes it's close.  It takes a confident
dog with plenty of initiative, I think.
Ben is pretty good at lines.  I've taught him "get in line", and he does a
pretty good job at finding the end of the line and following the person in
front of him when the line moves.
Standing in line is not really a dog thing, and it takes some work to make
it happen.
Tracy

> Hello All, I am new to the list, and am looking forward to
> learning from your discussions.  I am in my 60S and recently
> retired.  I have been a cane user all my life, but just recently
> applied for a guide dog, so, I have a lot to learn.
>
>  Although I haven't had a dog, I have been around many people
> with guide dogs, and I have noticed on many occasions, a blind
> person with a dog will plow his way through a crowd to get to the
> head of the line.  I feel this is rude.  My question is, Do the
> schools address the issue of curtesy to others when using a dog?
>
> I have never been in New York City,   so I don't know what it is
> like traveling there as a blind person.  Perhaps you would be
> trampled if you are not aggressive there.
>
> Carol  ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog
> Users" <nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 11:05:00 -0400
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] The Differences in Dogs and Canes
>
> I think a dog is much better for moving easily through a crowd.
> I know
> plenty of people use canes in New York City, but I imagine they
> have to
> slow way down when things get crowded, or whack a lot of ankles.
> Ben just
> slides on through, finding spaces between people.  Ben is one of
> those
> "pushy urban dogs".  Crowds are something of a specialty with
> him, and I
> really appreciate that.
> Tracy
>
>  Great point Nicole as even the best cane user would not find
> such an
>  obstacle.
>
>  Steve
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Nicole
>  Torcolini
>  Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2013 2:08 PM
>  To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog
> Users'
>  Subject: [nagdu] The Differences in Dogs and Canes
>
>  Okay, yes, I know that this one has gone round and round before,
> but I had
>  something happen today that made me just have to bring it up one
> more
>  time.
>  There is the way of thinking that says that the good cane user
> should be
>  able to travel as quickly and as safely with a cane as with a
> dog.
>  However,
>  unless you wear a full body shield, I just don't think that that
> is true.
>  For reasons that I will not discuss here, I was out walking
> today with my
>  cane rather than Lexia.  I was traversing a route that I have
> taken
>  numerous
>  times with Lexia.  Lexia usually stays a tiny bit from the edge
> of the side
>  walk.  However, as I was using my cane rather than Lexia, I was
> trailing
>  the
>  edge.  There is a staircase that comes down from a building that
> has a
>  railing that sticks out farther than the bottom step.  With
> Lexia, this had
>  never before posed a problem as she had cleared it as an
> obstacle.
>  However,
>  I had no way of detecting it without her; it was at hip level.
> As a
>  result,
>  I ran right into it.  I was not hurt or anything, but it just
> goes to show
>  that there are those things that a guide dog, at least a well
> trained one,
>  usually detects that a cane cannot.
>
>  Nicole
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