[nagdu] The Differences in Dogs and Canes

[Cindy Ray]

Perhaps you are right, but you said unequivocally that the dog is better. Well, many of us don't feel that way because if you just say because of leading you around things because it can see and the like, you are, in fact, also saying that people using the cane are using an inferior method. I don't think the computer vs. pen and paper is a good analogy. There are a number of reasons why the dog might not be better. 

1. It gets sick.
2. Its life span is short.
3. People are put off because of fear, alergies, whatever.
4. Dogs have personalities of sorts; if they don't work out, then you are inconvenienced by having to replace the dog.
Where the computer and the pen and paper are concerned, there are most definitely more advantages to the computer, but there are disadvantages. Most people who won't use it are proud that they don't. But the computer is moving into a technological age. The dog is strictly using a different tool from the cane. Be all that as it may, I feel that to say, "The Dog is Better" is to say that those of us using a cane are probably making an inferior choice. If that's so, it is in a way saying that we are inferior. We all have our reasons for using the tools we do, and I would feel a little better if you said strictly that you prefer the dog and then say your sreasons for it. I suspect this seems like splitting hairs, but I just have to say I feel that way about it.

Sincerely,
Cindy Lou Ray

On Jun 25, 2013, at 6:40 PM, Raven Tolliver <ravend729 at gmail.com> wrote:

> To Sharonda and Cindy Ray,
> Allow me to clear up your misunderstandings.
> I never said anything about guide dog users being better than cane
> users. Such a statement could not possibly be true since there are
> people who are far better with a cane than some people are with guide
> dogs, and vice versa. Also, using a dog would not make anyone a better
> person, traveler, etc. What I said was that guide dogs are better
> mobility aids than canes. This is because dogs have a wider degree of
> vision, so to speak, than a cane. My cane can only find things within
> a four to five foot radius of my body. My dog can see across an entire
> parking lot, and react to things in advance so that I don’t ever
> encounter them. If there is an obstacle in front of us, if possible,
> my dog starts moving over before we get within three feet of the
> obstruction.
> I never compared people in my previous post. It would not make sense
> to, since we’re talking about mobility aids specifically.
> To help illustrate what I mean, let’s use the example of pen and paper
> compared to a laptop computer. My roommate prefers pen and paper,
> while my buddy, Nick prefers his laptop. Using a laptop does not make
> Nick a better person or writer than my roommate. And just because my
> roommate can’t afford a laptop, doesn’t care to learn better computer
> skills, and prefers not to deal with the malfunctioning and
> maintenance of a laptop, does not mean that her pen and paper are
> better than the laptop. In this situation, the cane is the pen and
> paper, and the dog is the laptop with far more capabilities. My
> roommate’s penmanship may be better than her typing skills, but her
> pen and paper do not outshine a laptop. We are talking about tools
> with certain levels of capability, apart from their potential users.
> One tool may require more cost, time, and maintenance than another,
> but this is the cost of having a tool with higher functionality, and
> more guaranteed capabilities and precision. Cars are better than
> bikes, smart phones are better than their track phone and flip phone
> predecessors, power tools are better than manual hand tools, and
> central AC units are better than window-mounted air conditioning
> units. Does that make more sense?
> Also, I guess the reason why I think of hitting something with a cane
> as still running into it is because the way other people reacted when
> I would hit things with my cane. People would comment, laugh, and some
> people would want to help me so that I would hit absolutely nothing
> else with my cane. Too, I felt that hitting things with my cane slowed
> me down greatly; and in highly furnished rooms or crowds, hitting
> things or people doesn’t help find ways around them. Like I said
> before, the dog is better because it allows the user to react to
> obstacles, pathways, doorways, and such, as a sighted person would. My
> dog knows in advance that what we want to go to or want to avoid is
> coming up, so he reacts to it immediately. The cane does not give its
> user time to react in advance; and I count that fact as a drawback.
> 
> -- 
> Raven
> 
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