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

Thu Jun 26 18:36:36 UTC 2014

    Hi, when I lost Elliot back in 2010, I spent 3 months getting back with 
the cane.  I then realized why he did the things he did getting around 
different things.  Also, the general public I realized is not as nice as I 
once remembered prior to 1996 when I got my first guide.  I had my canes 
broken by some who tripped over it and many would not move and allowed me to 
walk into them.  Of course, if I knew they were there......  Yes!!!!! 
walking with a cane is so much different.It makes you appreciate each and 
every day having man's best friend for sure.  Andy and Shubert

-----Original Message----- 
From: Buddy Brannan via nagdu
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2014 1:00 PM
To: Sean Robertson ; NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide 
Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Adjustment from working with a king to a dog

Yeah, that is hard. The hardest part of changing back from a dog to a cane, 
for me anyway, well, there were two things. We won’t talk about not telling 
the cane it’s a good boy. The first thing was always feeling like I was 
weaving all over the sidewalk. The second thing was feeling off balance. I 
literally felt like I was going to fall over at any second for the first 
couple days. Once I hit my stride though, it was all right and I stopped 
feeling like that. No mistake, you definitely use different muscles when you 
walk with a cane vs. walking with a dog.
On Jun 26, 2014, at 12:39 PM, Sean Robertson via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> 
wrote:

> 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
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>
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