[NAGDU] Boarding buses.

S L Johnson SLJohnson25 at comcast.net
Fri Feb 26 17:15:13 UTC 2016


Hi Cindy:

You have described the way all of us learned at the guide dog schools.  I 
was doing it that way until Cinnamon got hurt.  She was only the length of 
her leash away from me as I got up into the van.  I have arthritis and 
multiple sclerosis so, it takes me a bit longer to get myself up into vans. 
The van was parked against the curb and Cinnamon was sitting right at the 
edge of the curb waiting for me to get into the van.  It was one of those 
sudden unexpected accidents that I wish we could have avoided.  That little 
brat had been told by maintenance not to ride his bike or skateboard on the 
sidewalk.  His grandmother had been warned that she would be evicted if she 
didn't control her grandson  but, you know teenage boys, they never listen. 
No matter how much we try to avoid them, accidents can happen any time even 
when we are doing our best to keep our dogs safe.  I guess we all have that 
fear that something might happen that will hurt our dogs as they are working 
hard for us.  It is too bad that these kind of things happen.  Cinnamon was 
in excellent health and could have worked for three or four more years.

Sandra and Eva

-----Original Message----- 
From: Cindy Ray via NAGDU
Sent: Friday, February 26, 2016 11:11 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Cc: Cindy Ray
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Boarding buses.

Why would someone leave the dog alone outside the van/car? I don't know if I
understand this. I hold the dog on leash and have it right at the door. If
it is a van, I climb in and then immediately call the dog in. In a car I sit
down with my feet outside, then call the dog in, pivot my body in, and it's
all good. That is a terrible thing that happened to Cinnamon.

Cindy


-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of S L Johnson via
NAGDU
Sent: Friday, February 26, 2016 9:54 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: S L Johnson <SLJohnson25 at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Boarding buses.

Deanna,

The process you describe sounds like the way some schools teach the students
on class to get into the vans.  When taking a van, I work my dog up to the
van, let the dog get up into the van and then I get myself in.  This is
opposite from what the schools teach but, I have a good reason for this.  I
once had a dog seriously injured when I was getting into a van the way the
schools teach.  As I was getting myself settled on the seat, Cinnamon was
sitting quietly on the curb in front of my apartment building.  Suddenly a
boy racing along the sidewalk on a skateboard slammed into Cinnamon knocking
her off the curb onto the driveway under the van.  She sustained cuts,
bruises and a serious ACL injury to her right knee.  This incident also left
her afraid of anything on wheels coming too close to us.  She also developed
anxiety if we had to stand on the sidewalk for our ride to show up.It took a
lot of careful training with positive rewards to get her to be less stressed
out.  The knee never completely healed and resulted in chronic stiffness,
swelling and pain.  This injury resulted in her early retirement.  So, as
you can see, I will never get into a car, van or bus first and leave my dog
alone outside where she could be hurt.      I do the same thing when getting

in a car.  I let the dog guide me up to the car door, open the door and have
the dog get in and sit on the floor.  Then I get myself in and shut the
door.  When getting out, I always get out first and then have the dog get
out.  I always work my dog on and off a bus.

Sandra and Eva

-----Original Message-----
From: Deanna Lewis via NAGDU
Sent: Friday, February 26, 2016 9:13 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog
Users(nagdu at nfbnet.org)
Cc: Deanna Lewis
Subject: [NAGDU] Boarding buses.

Hi all,
I have a question on how to board a bus/van when travelling with a guide
dog. I was reading a friend's training blog, and she described how the
school she is at teaches boarding the bus with the dogs. She said that the
student has the dog sit outside the bus doors, makes a long leash, then the
student boards the bus and then calls the dog on. The way it was described
reminds me of how someone would walk through airport security. I know when
I've trained in the past, we have been told to heel our dogs onto buses, but
I've almost always worked my dog onto buses, paratransit vehicles, and
subways. By working my dog, I can tell if there are steps, how many, and so
on. I would think it would be kind of dangerous to step "blindly" onto a
vehicle and then call your dog onto it. So, my question to you all is, how
do you board buses?Do you also exit the bus in the same way?
Thanks!
Deanna and Mambo

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