[nagdu] Sidewalk-less walking?

Thu Jul 2 19:41:31 UTC 2015

Jody and all,
I think the country walk training at the schools is fine as far as it goes, 
but if you really live in the country like we do, there are things that can't 
be handled by staying to the left. First, we are on a dirt and gravel road 
which is badly rutted for many months and the patterns of those ruts can 
change. It's like a macramé of ruts. My last two dogs have had to pick their 
way around the deepest of them and cannot stay to the left or walk in a 
straight line at all. They do this very well. In fact, years ago someone asked 
me how my last dog  and I dealt with the ruts, and I said, "What ruts?" Of 
course, now I know what is going on.

The other thing is that, when you're out far enough, there are very few cars. 
This sounds great and it generally is, but both of my dogs who have lived here 
went through an adjustment. They'd hear a car and get over to one side, but 
the car was close to a mile away. Obviously, I don't want to stand around all 
day waiting for cars that are nowhere near us.

Some of the transitions that  you wish were actual corners are also difficult 
for the dogs to figure out. Some are so sweeping that it's hard to tell where 
the dog should stop to cross or make a decision to turn. Hunter wasn't all 
that impressed with the cows and horses either. The electric fences are low 
and not usually live, and I think he was concerned that they were coming for 
us. Not all dogs like walking on stone either, and most of the driveways are 
stone not Macadam or concrete because they are long and that would be very 
costly.

I'm not complaining about our beautiful country home, but just saying that 
what passes for country travel at school isn't even close.
Donna & Hunter

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jody Ianuzzi via 
nagdu
Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2015 11:01 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Jody Ianuzzi
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Sidewalk-less walking?

Whenever I walk down the road without sidewalks I walked down the left side of 
the road facing the traffic so that they can see me. If I walked on the right 
side of the road I would be afraid that they wouldn't see my dog and might hit 
him.

When I was in training my instructor told me to walk down the left side of the 
road towards traffic and I think that's the generally excepted with 
pedestrians are supposed to walk.

JODY ??
thunderwalker321 at gmail.com

"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes." 
DOCTOR WHO (Tom Baker)

> On Jul 1, 2015, at 10:14 AM, Daryl Marie via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Thanks Julie, it does help!
>
> I think it's a matter of getting both Jenny and I thinking this is normal. 
> On the way TO work, Jenny does beautiful guiding. We're right up against the 
> curb... even when I think we're not, I tell her to move "in" (which to her 
> is "All the way right", and I find she angles me so my right foot is on the 
> grass immediately.  There aren't a lot of cars parked, and she's great about 
> getting out of the way of those that come up behind us... So getting there 
> isn't really the issue... but it's on the way back that seems to be the 
> problem.  There are cars on the road nearly the entire way, and enough 
> traffic coming down the street that I don't think she or I feel safe enough 
> to walk on the road, which leaves us the parking lots (I think it might be 
> better) or the grass (which Jenny doesn't seem to like).  I'm not sure 
> what's on the other side of the street, but whatever it is, it's LOUD! 
> There's a bunch of offices and industrial buildings.  I might just head down 
> that way and see what's there.
>
> Thanks, Julie!
>
> Daryl
> ----- Original Message ----- From: Julie J. via nagdu
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of
> Guide Dog Users <nagdu at nfbnet.org> Cc: Julie J. <julielj at neb.rr.com>
> Sent: Wed, 01 Jul 2015 05:44:21 -0600 (MDT) Subject: Re: [nagdu]
> Sidewalk-less walking?  Daryl, I do quite a bit of sidewalkless
> travel, nearly daily. I've not had a dog who was skittish about it. If
> it's possible, it's easier to walk with the curb/shoulder on your
> left, so the dog is nearest the edge. If you're not sure about your
> distance from the edge, you can cue a left turn and work the dog to
> the edge, or if you use a folding cane you can use that. I do this a
> lot in the beginning, but haven't done either for some time. When
> approaching a parked car, I teach the dog to move around the car on
> the street side, but to stop before entering the actual lane of
> traffic. This puts us at the corner of the car. I listen for traffic
> and cue my dog to proceed around when I don't hear any traffic. When
> doing this I wait until traffic is clear both ways, even the far lane
> which we shouldn't be near. I do this because if I miss hearing a car
> I want there to be room for the drivers to move. They won't be able to
> do that if there are two cars passing plus the parked car. After
> passing the car, the dog will pick up the line of travel at the curb
> again. With a new dog I offer a couple of reminders and double check
> when I think we should be back at the curb. If traffic is really heavy
> or I can't hear well because of wind or construction or whatever, I
> will go around parked cars on the yard side. I cue the dog left, work
> to the curb, cue a right turn, go a bit and then turn right to the
> curb again. For me this is a more difficult procedure because of
> mailboxes, trees and several cars parked in a row or trucks connected
> to trailers. My guess when we've passed the vehicle isn't always
> accurate. It's not so bad with Monty because he's had enough
> experience he can figure out what to do easily. Jetta is more likely
> to follow my direction more closely or refusing, but not knowing what
> to do instead. It sometimes means we employ trial and error to figure
> out what to do. There have been a couple of times when the road has
> been too narrow for my comfort with a lot of traffic. I have walked on
> the yard/grass side of the curb/shoulder of the road instead of the
> street side. My dogs catch on to this really quickly, but that could
> be because they have a lot of experience with sidewalkless travel.
> It's a bit slower going because of the uneven footing and the need to
> weave around trees and bushes and whatnot. I listen to the traffic to
> keep me oriented in the correct direction. I haven't had a problem
> with either Jetta or Monty wandering off into random directions
> though. I do remember that Belle would move to the absolute edge of
> the road or even up into a driveway and stop when she thought a
> vehicle was approaching too closely.  After the vehicle passed she'd
> continue on. Monty and Jetta don't do this, but generally if a dog
> suggests something that is reasonable I encourage it.  So they all
> develop their unique style of working particular situations. Anyway, I
> hope there's something useful in there somewhere. If you have other
> questions, please ask away.  I'm happy to bounce ideas around until
> something clicks! Julie
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