[nagdu] which side are you on?

Star Gazer pickrellrebecca at gmail.com
Wed May 29 19:34:53 UTC 2013 

Hmm, I'm not sure anger management would be right for Dan's friend. 
Dan, you were asked a tough question. You are sensitive now because this is
your second dog, and she's doing a whole lot better then your first. 
The school did not serve you by not explaining why the dogs walk on the
left. 
I agree with Marion, I hated it when my last dog would do this. It is
inconsiderate to those around us. 
I'd explain to your friend what you've learned, and see if you both can
simmer down a bit. You both had valid points. 


-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Eve Sanchez
Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2013 4:22 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] which side are you on?

Daniel, First I got a little confused like Cindy as to whether you meant the
dog walks on the left side of you or the path. No biggy though. I will
respond to both since both scenarios have been addressed here. Why are dogs
usually trained to walk on the left of the handler? Who really knows. My own
belief has always been that the horse walks on the right, so now the person
is easily able to walk with both; their dog and their horse. ;)  As for the
dog walking on the right or the left of the path; well I think we need to
consider cultrural standards. We learn in O&M to walk to the right as a
courtesy. We learn in kindergarten to do the same. It is more appropriate
and considerate to walk to the right in the United States and makes things
safer when approached by fast movers such as joggers, skateboarders and
bicyclest. As for you friend; I would suggest Anger Management. Eve

On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 9:15 PM, Buddy Brannan <buddy at brannan.name> wrote:
> Nah. I don't buy that. For instance, I understand that, due to streets
being very narrow, guide dogs in Japan are trained to work on *both* sides.
Go figure...
> --
> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY
>
>
>
> On May 24, 2013, at 11:10 PM, "Julie Phillipson" <jbrew48 at verizon.net>
wrote:
>
>> I've always been told that dogs just naturally go to your left side for
what ever reason.  It is more difficult to train a dog to work on your right
side and takes longer.
>>
>> Julie Phillipson
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Buddy Brannan" 
>> <buddy at brannan.name>
>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, May 24, 2013 10:34 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] which side are you on?
>>
>>
>> The gun thing I seem to recall someone telling me once.that hunters have
their dogs working on the left so they can hold their guns in their right
hands. Or something like that. Who knows? Now, i think it's done because
that's how it's always been done.
>> --
>> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
>> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY
>>
>>
>>
>> On May 24, 2013, at 8:50 PM, Tami Jarvis <tami at poodlemutt.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Buddy,
>>>
>>> Hm... I like your explanation of why left working dogs like to track 
>>> left and vice versa. It is consistent with what Mitzi tells me when 
>>> I ask her to track left. /smile/
>>>
>>> I have heard various reasons for the tradition of keeping the dog to 
>>> the left, but the gun is new. /lol/ One reason I have heard is that 
>>> it leaves the right hand free for shaking hands. Having the guide 
>>> dog harness and leash in the right hand does make that trickier, 
>>> although for a leftie the shaking of right hands is not natural to 
>>> begin with. /lol/
>>>
>>> Tami
>>>
>>> On 05/24/2013 04:48 PM, Buddy Brannan wrote:
>>>> i,
>>>>
>>>> Why yes, yes, I have had people try to micromanage where my dog walks,
and it's terribly annoying. All the explanations in the world don't help,
and while your friend needs to get a grip, he won't understand this need.
>>>>
>>>> While my current dog has a right tendency, I believe this is 
>>>> somewhat unusual. My first two dogs, both from different schools 
>>>> from each other, had very definite left tendencies and would walk 
>>>> on the left side of the walkway. Since our dogs work on the left (a 
>>>> matter of tradition as I understand it, no actual technical reason 
>>>> for it, except something to do with holding a gun in your right 
>>>> hand), my suspicion is that the dog will generally find it easier, 
>>>> less work, and less for him to have to pay attention to and account 
>>>> for if he walks on the left rather than the right. Think of it from 
>>>> his point of view. If he's got you on his right, he has to move 
>>>> over less often to avoid things he'd naturally avoid anyway. In 
>>>> other words, let's say he's walking and he sees an obstacle. He 
>>>> would naturally walk around it giving himself enough clearance. If 
>>>> he knows he also has to clear you, it's much easier for him to do 
>>>> this if he can do so by only taking his own body width into 
>>>> account. So, he'll
>>> go around the obstacle, putting it on his left, with still enough room
on the path for you, and not having to go further out of his way to clear
the obstacle and do a stellar job and earn that "atta good boy" from you.
Contrast that with walking on the right. OK, the dog sees an obstacle and
has to clear it. Going around it to the right, putting the obstacle on the
left, will push you off the path. But going around the obstacle to the left,
putting it on the right, and also having to account for your body width,
means he has to judge that width more precisely. And what if you clip it
because he's too close? Earning that "atta good boy" is a whole lot more
intensive for him, certainly more work, and like any good human, your dog is
most likely to take the path of least resistance.
>>>>
>>>> So, you might ask, why not just walk down the center then? Ideal, sure.
You can then piss off both sides of the sidewalk. Only kidding. Again,
that's not the path of least resistance for your dog. Walking on an edge
means that your dog has something to follow. Not so walking down the middle.
No edge = more work to keep a straight line.
>>>>
>>>> OK, now everyone tell me where I went wrong on this doggie brain
analysis.
>>>> --
>>>> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
>>>> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On May 24, 2013, at 6:51 PM, "Daniel" <daniel.sweeney1 at comcast.net>
wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> 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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>>>>
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