[nagdu] The Differences in Dogs and Canes

[Cindy Ray]

I really hate to have to respond to this post, but I have to do it. Though this thread is for information about guide dogs, there are people who post here who do not use them for various reasons. If they run into something or tap it with a cane, they are not failures. A good cane user does not run into all that much. The use of the cane is another tool. The dog is not better, just different. The dog requires commitments that the cane does not; some people either cannot at this time or are unwilling to make that kind of commitment. This doesn't make them less. To say that using a dog is better one should be sure that he/she hastens to add for me, the use of a dog is better. There is a variety of reasons for people deciding to go one way or the other, so I hope we don't get into a discussion about how it is that you are better because you use a dog. Perhaps I'm misinterpreting, and I do hope so.

CL

On Jun 25, 2013, at 12:58 PM, Raven Tolliver <ravend729 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi,
> If I ever said a cane was better than a dog, I wouldn't be using a dog
> as a mobility aid. Frankly, the dog is better. I don't have to hit
> things to find my way around them. Things like that are important when
> you use a cane for landmark information, but as a dog user, I don't
> need so much of that anymore. It's great that there's a tree across
> the sidewalk from the bus stop I need, and it's awesome that there is
> a cement flower pot outside that shop, but those things don't need to
> be noted now that my dog knows right where the bus stop and shop are
> located.
> I see constantly hitting things then having to find a way around them
> as failure, or an impediment at the very least. Why do I say this?
> Because from the sighted perspective, you're still running into
> things, no matter if you or your cane hits it. I hate running into
> things, so I got a dog. I hate hitting chairs that are pulled out as I
> walk through a cafe. I hate walking through the dining hall and
> hitting people's bags and backpacks; I hate searching for a line of
> people or getting through a crowd of people and having to hit feet.
> Maybe other cane users don't mind, or have found some great way to get
> around this stuff without using a sighted guide, but I haven't.
> Furthermore, I believe the saying "Two heads are better than one." For
> instance, let's use the classic traffic check scenario. I walk out of
> a store toward a parking lot. My dog puts the breaks on immediately. I
> tell him forward, and he continues to stand still. Come to find out,
> there was a car backing out several feet in front of us. If I had been
> a cane user, I hope I would have figured that out before coming into
> cruel contact with the car. With a cane, you can only know what you
> can find out through your cane, which is not much, or at least not
> enough to make decisions ahead of time about how to react and which
> way to go. With a dog, you and the dog both know an abundance of
> information about your surroundings. Some things, you and your dog
> know, some things only you know, such as this street is under
> construction, or there's an alleyway if I pass this building, and
> other things, your dog knows but hasn't communicated them to you yet,
> such as the car blocking the cross walk, or the construction barriers
> blocking the path, or the huge pile of snow six feet ahead of you.
> I have been in the all-for-canes-and-totally-against-dogs boat. Dogs
> get distracted, cost way more time and money, and need far more
> attention. I tell everyone this whenever they talk about getting their
> first dog, or about how they push so-and-so to get a dog. It is not
> the same. You have to learn to trust another being, and work with it
> when it gets distracted. Some people couldn't handle it; I get it. But
> that does not mean the dog isn't better as a mobility aid. I walk
> faster, and find myself more comfortable and confident traveling
> through certain environments with a dog by my side. I no longer have
> problems walking angled sidewalks and crossings, through deep snow,
> extremely noisy environments, or through lines and crowds of people.
> With my dog, it doesn't matter if I forgot that a trash can was in a
> certain place, or where the bus stop was exactly; he will locate
> things and get me around them perfectly. My dog is better than a cane
> as a mobility aid because he gets me where I need to go as quickly,
> safely, and conveniently as possible. We don't run into things, I
> don't trip, and I rarely  veer or get disoriented. The dog is better
> because I am given the larger part of the ability to react to my
> environment similar to the way that, or exactly as a sighted person
> would react.
> It does not come down to personal preference because that does not
> determine which mobility aid is better; it simply speaks for which is
> more preferable. Flat out, dogs have far more capabilities than a
> cane, making them a better mobility aid.
> -- 
> Raven
> 
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