[nagdu] which side are you on?

[Deanna Lewis]

Daniel,
I have a suggestion of something you could try if the left tendency does bother you and you would like Cass to work on the right side of a path or aisle at times. When I am shopping I prefer to be on the right side of the aisle, so that I can easily pick up things and look at them. So, I taught Pascal the phrase, "keep right". He picked this up very quickly. When we started down an aisle, I would tell him to, keep right and he usually would veer right and when he would stay right for a few feet, I would praise and give him a food reward. I am sure that this could be done with a clicker as well. 
This command really comes in handy at many situations.
I also try to stick to the right in hallways at work, since there are a ton of other blind people here. When I heel my dog around I almost always stick to the right side, that way he gets used to walking on the right side of any given path. He is still very stubborn and mostly prefers the left side /smiles/.
Hope that helps.
Deanna and Pascal

-----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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