[nagdu] Going hiking?

Tue Mar 4 04:53:37 UTC 2014

Hahaha, even when I still used a cane, I was well known for running ahead of
the group of sighted people. Luckily, it was usually on rather well defined
trails and boardwalks . Of course, Lexia only helped me in this when she
came along as she can be a rather fast walker. However, we did not get that
far ahead of the group as she is one of those dogs who thinks that she also
needs to keep track of everyone else, not just me, particularly when it is
people that she knows well, like my parents.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tami Jarvis
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2014 9:58 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Going hiking?

Daryl,

I love hiking! So I started from the first figuring out how I would do that
with the cane as I learned how to use it. Same with dog. I got her as a pup,
so I had a lot more flexibility and training time with her than I would have
with a program-trained dog. Quite a bit that I do with her just wouldn't
work with a dog that was as protected as the program pups usually are.

Anyway, I like to feel the ground with my feet and use the cane to let me
know about obstacles from shin to head. I also use sound a lot, and it took
some doing to learn to stay oriented in wide open spaces.

With the dog, I like my sport harness because it has free play in the handle
but still gives me good feedback from Mitzi's movements. She has learned to
maneuver my feet in a way I don't understand... I actually thought they had
fixed some sidewalks around here and broke a cane finding out those
sidewalks are worse than when I was learning the cane in the first place.
Who knew? /lol/

Doing some bit practice on uneven ground of various types might help you
figure out how well you can handle ups and downs and holes and obstacles of
various types... If you spend nearly all your time on smooth, regular city
sidewalks, then turf can be very different. If you spend more time walking
on the wild side in the rough with cane or dog, then you probably have more
transferrable skills. /smile/

The dog will need plenty of water, and so will you. Depending on the length
of the hike, you both may need more calories, so there's a nice full
backpack for you to carry. /smile/ Spare cane highly recommended! 
Especially if you get irritated and hit that stupid rock with that stupic
cane after a couple of miles. /lol/ I have a couple of different hiking
tips, one a big ball and one sort of a large disk. They make the end of the
cane pretty heavy, though, so that's why I've learned to feel the ground
with my feet and just use the cane for other types of obstacles. The large
ball does break when you hit a rock with it. /smile/

Um... I began preparing Mitzi as a pup, so I can be pretty free and easy
with her on a wilderness hike. With a dog that didn't learn those wild
skills young and that hasn't had much experience with being off leash, I
would not do quite a lot of what I do with her. /shudder/ A hands free leash
works well if you're using your cane but need to keep the dog from going off
and getting into trouble.

Hiking in company, I use the sounds of the others to know where the trail
is, so I can feel the ground with my feet as I track them. I don't like
going slow, though, so sometimes that's a bummer and I end up way ahead,
using the sound of people calling for me to slow down to aid in
echolocation. /lol/ Mitzi also likes to show me the trail with her bells or
with a squeaky ball, so that's way cool. When she's guiding, we tend to move
right along, so there we are blazing the trail again if the other hikers
prefer to mosey. I grew up with RP running around in the hills and woods, so
it's pretty natural for me to know where I am and where I'm going and how to
get back to where I've been. I also find getting lost kinda fun and enjoy
the challenge of getting unlost, preferrably before I'm too hot, tired and
hungry to have fun anymore. 
Thus, I don't avoid getting lost and have given myself lots of practice
getting found again. If you get anxious when you get lost and aren't used to
the woods, that is something to take into consideration when you plan where
to hike and with whom you will be hiking. Some sighted people can't find
their way out of a paper bag and can forget the way back after the third
step, so I don't plan to depend on someone's vision until I know they can
use their brains. /smile/

Don't know if any of that is helpful or was what you were asking about. 
The most important thing is to know your own strengths and limitations if
it's something you haven't done much and proceed with caution until you know
you can handle the ground and environment, and until you know what your dog
can handle and how.

Have fun and let us know how it goes!

Tami

On 03/03/2014 07:29 AM, Daryl Marie wrote:
> hi!
> I have always enjoyed nature, but have been hesitant to go hiking with a
cane.  In a couple of months, my husband, my dog and I are going to be going
to Montana for a few days just to relax. There's a lot of trails around
where we're staying, so I would LOVE to be able to take Jenny and just go!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated; perhaps I just don't know what to
ask.
>
> Daryl
>
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