[nagdu] which side are you on?

[Tracy Carcione]

A bigtime left tendency drives me nuts, too. My dog Echo had it, for a 
while, and it turned out that I was causing it.  She was ultra-sensitive to 
where I was holding the harness.  Once I learned to hold the harness in the 
right spot, the left tendency went away.  My point is that it's not always 
the training or the dog; sometimes it's the handler.
And, as others have said, often it's the situation, and the dog trying to 
make his life a little easier.
Tracy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Star Gazer" <pickrellrebecca at gmail.com>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2013 8:09 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] which side are you on?


> Marion,
> I agree with every. Single. Word of this message.
> My last dog had a left tendency and it drove me nuts.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of blind411
> Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2013 10:11 PM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] which side are you on?
>
> Daniel,
> Like your friend, I am not very pleased with the fact that most
> guide dog programs train their dogs to walk to the left. I feel it is very
> inconsiderate, as the normal flow of traffic moves on the right. When our
> dogs pull to the left, oncoming pedestrians, bikers, skateboarders, etc. 
> all
> need to avoid us. When walking through a strip mall, I feel like I am a
> slalom skier.
> My dog was trained to walk to the left and, despite my best efforts,
> I have been unable to break him of this very engrained training. I have
> addressed this with the Guide Dog Foundation and they claim this is not a
> part of their training, though it obviously is! Why, then does my dog do
> this. When I was on the graduate Advisory Council of Southeastern Guide
> Dogs, I was given the explanation that this is so sighted people can see 
> the
> dog and avoid it. They would not need to avoid it if we were to walk with
> the normal flow of traffic. I would love to read other's feelings on this
> issue.
>
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion Gwizdala
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Daniel
> Sent: Friday, May 24, 2013 6:51 PM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: [nagdu] which side are you on?
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> I have just spent a troubling afternoon with a couple of great friends. We
> were on a walk in Golden, Colorado, through town and along the river 
> trail.
> My friend kept telling me to stay to the right on the path because of all 
> of
> the foot and bike traffic on the trail. The trail is a wide, cement trail,
> approximately 10' wide. Cass always walks to the left  on any path. My
> friend became increasingly upset with me because everyone had to move 
> around
> me to avoid missing me and Cass. I tried to have Cass move to the right, 
> but
> she insisted to continue to travel on the left side of the walk, as she
> always does. It is true the path was very busy, but I told my friend that
> Cass would avoid anyone that was in her way. He became very irate, telling
> me I should walk with Cass on my right side instead of my left side. I 
> told
> him that this was not an option, and that I knew what I was doing, and 
> just
> chill out and let me and Cass do what we do. He said it was absurd that 
> any
> dog would not be trained to walk on the right side of a path, and I told 
> him
> that she was following the side of the walk.
>
> Does anyone come across any of the same remarks from people. Do your dogs
> travel on the right or left on a path with no curbs, or buildings to line
> either side.
>
> I must admit I do not remember having ever discussed this during training
> with Cass. I naturally assumed that Cass would follow along the left side.
> My friend said that everyone else had to move out of the way for me, and
> that it was not right that I took up the left side. Just because I was 
> blind
> did not give me the right to make everyone else move out of the way for 
> me,
> and that I had to be more considerate of them. Needless to say I was just 
> a
> bit pissed off at this point.
>
> What do you think about this?
>
> I told him to forget about ever trying to get me to move my dog to my 
> right
> hand, it was not going to happen. Other than that, I fell short of giving
> him a good reason for travelling on the left side of the walk.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Daniel and Cass
>
>
>
>
>
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