[nagdu] Why, or why not?

Dan Weiner dcwein at dcwein.cnc.net
Fri Jun 19 22:08:39 UTC 2015


Well this is Dan W. from Florida, the other venerable Daniel on the list was
the one who asked about negatives. I'll sign as Dan W. from now on so we can
distinguish everyone. I personally think the more Dans or Daniels the
better.


I by and large agree with you, Sandra.
Here's how I would put it maybe from a different angle, in life we have
trade-offs.
If you are blind, as has been pointed out by others on the list, you have
limited choices for navigating a world made with the majority of sighted
people in mind--lol
1. don't leave the house
2. use a sighted guide.
3. use a long white cane
4. use a guide dog.
5. I don't recommend this one...but I have met a few blind or visually
impaired people who use no mobility aid and I'm quite impressed that they
haven't been killed yet.


A dog is a living thing, and therefore it requires care, affection, and all
of that stuff.
So the trade-off is that I deal with another living thing, take care of him
and yes that can sometimes bseem cumbersome or burdensome, but I then can
use his  and training  my  skills such as they are--lol, to to get around in
my opinion much better than I would if I used a cane.
I can give numerous experiential examples of why I think a dog guide is
better than a cane  and worth every minute of trouble I go to for my furry
friend. 
If taking care of a living thing is onerous to you then you will get no flak
from me if you just say "look I can't deal with this".
Remember it's the trade off.
Out of the five choices above that I gave, two are really the only practical
ones to be in quotes independent, the cane or the guide dog.
So, if you want to get around by yourself, you choose between those two and
that's it, guys.


I admire you, Sandra, for your forty years of guide dog use, you must have
some incredible experiences to tell us about.
Yes I know what some of our fellow listers are talking about by the
portrayal of the guide dog as a magical panacea, but frankly, when I go to
our Federation conventions and here cane-users who've gone through our
Centers I feel like saying "In the name of the Father, in the name of the
Son..."  I think it is that really anything that you get or use or discover
that makes an impact on your life is something you tend to extol.

These newbie cane users make it sound like it's a magic wand.
And of course, when guide dog programs started out there was to my knowledge
no systematic cane training available, and it's true that the cane has not
gotten much positive publicity., which certainly  is to be regretted. ..on
the other hand, my comments of yesterday regarding my high opinion of the
long white cane as a mobility aid still stand--lol.

Warmest regards to all:

Dan W.

dcwein at dcwein.cnc.net




 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of S L Johnson via
nagdu
Sent: Friday, June 19, 2015 3:08 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: S L Johnson
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Why, or why not?

Hi,

Personally I don't find any negatives about having a guide dog.  There are
so many positives that nothing is too much work in order for me to have a
dog.  , I always ask for a golden so I have lots of hair.  I brush her every
night to keep the shedding down.  It is possible your dog had a medical
issue that contributed to her excessive shedding.  Also if she were under a
lot of stress that could have also caused her to shed more.  Stress for 
working dogs can cause all kinds of problems.   If people don't want dog 
hair, then maybe a dog isn't for them.  If people don't want my dog hair in
their car, then I don't go anywhere with them.  My dog is more important
than that inconsiderate person.  I suppose you could say high vet bills
could be a negative but, even that is worth it because the dog gives you so
much more independence.  It is a tough question to answer because what you
see as a negative might not mean anything to someone else who will do
absolutely anything to have a guide dog.  As for access issues, I don't have
any problems with it and feel it is just one of the responsibilities of
having a guide dog.  It is a personal decision and only you will be able to
weigh the positives against the negatives n the end to make your decision. 
Whatever you decide, good luck.

Sandra and Eva

-----Original Message-----
From: daniel via nagdu
Sent: Friday, June 19, 2015 12:05 PM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Cc: daniel
Subject: [nagdu] Why, or why not?

Hey guys, I haven't posted to the list in a while mainly because I don't
have my dog anymore; she was terrified of cars and couldn't do work properly
because of it. I know this is going to come off a bit negatively but I don't
mean it that way: I feel as if, guide dog users we have a tendency to extol
the greatness of using a guide dog, we always say how amazing it is and
wonderful having one by our side is but I feel that the cons aren't ever
really discussed. I retired my dog roughly a year ago and, at the time, it
was pretty tramatic (I literally cried for like an hour at a time). I'm now
really contemplating going back to The Seeing Eye again and am really
honestly wondering what kind of cons or negative things yall have ran into
while using a dog? I know there is a huuuge range of people from just
starting out to have had a dog for the past 20 years so I feel like I can
get some really good feedback. I know one for me was (and this may sound odd
or vain) was excessive shedding. I could brush and comb Irene for 30-45
minutes every evening and morning and yet, every time I got in a car there
would be fur everywhere and when I vacuumed I could've probably made a
pillow every time. I have literally never in my life seen a dog shed as much
as that and am quite frankly not sure where all the fur came from off a 45
pound dog. However, I think I could deal with it again if I were to get
another guide dog; I would just have to get even better at managing. I have
a few others but I'm wondering what are some for yall?

Again, I really am not trying to be negative just really trying to get the
whole story.again.

I'm also (obviously) trying to decide if I want to go back again (that's a
whole other post though, I think). I'm also not really trying to say (nor do
I want yet another debate) that canes are better than dogs or vice versa.

Thanks,

Dan.



P.s: This is a sort of spinoff from "would I ever give up having a dog?"

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