[nagdu] Adjustment from working with a king to a dog

[Sean Robertson]

And I'm having to do backwards, From a dog to a cane. Boy is that hard too. 
I have a bad rite rist, So using a cane hurts.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Buddy Brannan via nagdu" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
To: "Daryl Marie" <crazymusician at shaw.ca>; "NAGDU Mailing List,the National 
Association of Guide Dog Users" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2014 12:09 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Adjustment from working with a king to a dog


I’ve said this in another post, probably several other posts, but the 
hardest thing for me to learn wasn’t the mechanics of guide work. The 
mechanics are easy. This hand signal means that thing, and when you move 
your feet this way, it means this other thing, and when the dog stops or 
backs up or what have you…all that stuff was pretty easy by comparison to 
the hardest thing, which was learning to trust my dog. Being a cane user, 
and I’d say a *good* cane user, I was used to having all the control and 
making all the decisions. Pole? Walk around it. Check. With a dog, you have 
to let some of that go. And I’ve had to relearn this three different times.

On Jun 26, 2014, at 11:29 AM, Daryl Marie via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> 
wrote:

>
> Hi, Clare!
> I am less than a year into working with my first guide, Jenny, and I was a 
> cane user for my entire life.  The tactile feedback is very different from 
> cane to dog, and I personally thought the transition would be difficult; 
> instead, I found myself freed from the feedback of the cane.  Even my best 
> friend thought I would have a hard transition and was surprised when I 
> didn't.  Others will have different experiences.  The advice I can give 
> here is to break down the feedback you receive from your cane and think 
> about what feedback you think is necessary, and what you can do without.
>
> As for your dog's signals... all dogs will have different signals that 
> they use.  Trainers will know your dog and know some of their signals. In 
> the beginning, they will tell you that your dog is distracted, focused, 
> scrounging, etc., and you will learn in training and beyond the signals 
> your own dog will use.  I tend to second-guess Jenny signals on locating 
> thigns, because her body language is the same as if she's diving toward 
> something, so I act accordingly.
>
> You will make mistakes; this is normal!  Don't be like me an put on 
> yourself the unreasonable and stressful expectation of perfectly 
> understanding your dog as soon as you start training, or even in the first 
> few months.  You will both make mistakes, figure each other out as you 
> go... and when you both "get it", there's no better feeling in the world!
>
> Daryl and Jenny
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Clare Westlund via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Sent: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 09:10:03 -0600 (MDT)
> Subject: [nagdu] Adjustment from working with a king to a dog
>
> afraid that I will miss something that the dog is trying to tell me when 
> off leash. Thank you all for your guidance and advice! Clare Hi everyone! 
> I am preparing to get my first dog next month and I had a couple 
> questions. I am nervous about the adjustment from working with a cane two 
> then using a dog? What was it like for you? I am nervous that I will not 
> understand what the dog is trying to tell me when and and or out of 
> harness? I don't want to interpret the body language or mannerism of the 
> dog in a bad way? Since I am totally blind I am
>
> Sent from my iPhone
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/crazymusician%40shaw.ca
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/buddy%40brannan.name


_______________________________________________
nagdu mailing list
nagdu at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/sprobertson0871%40gmail.com