[NAGDU] A dog? a cane? which will it be

[Amanda Markham]

Hello. This is quite an interesting topic. And one of which I am very interested in reading responses from others. Having been a caneuser all my life, I have been quite used to it and OK with it up until now. Now that I'm traveling in crowds and over all traveling more than I used to, I'm finding situations where a guy dog would be very appropriate for said situations. What I am most interested to know about is what guide dog foundation's
 Views are. I think for me, I would probably carry my cane and only use it when necessary. But mostly I would be using the dog.
Sent from my iPhone

> On Feb 10, 2017, at 4:07 PM, Raul A. Gallegos via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello Dan, I am not good at reading sarcasm in emails. So, I'm not sure if your message is an attempt at humor. I have zero vision, nada, zilch. So, to answer your question, let's say that I'm shopping for groceries. Let's say that I'm in what clearly smells like the coffee aisle. I want to make sure that I'm near the left side so I can browse the shelves and get the can of coffee and the container of coffee cream I desire. If I use the normal commands to tell my dog forward or left, he will take me down the aisle, clearly not guiding me to the part of the shelf I want. So, letting go of the handle, whipping out my trusty cane, I will use it to guide me to the shelf, where I can do fine motor mobility and get to the exact spot I want, which I may not be able to communicate to the dog. Then I can have him lie down on the ground, use the Stay command and I can go about looking for that can of coffee I want. Another example, I'm walking down several aisles at an office supply store and my dog has taken me to an area which is a bit open. I can tell via echo location that there are some shelves around me, but I need to know what is on those shelves. What do I do? I don't use the dog because he will do what he is trained to do in taking me around the obstacles. Instead, I drop the handle and use the cane to guide me to the area I need so I can see what is there. Last example, I need to teach my dog the location of a mailbox. I use the touch command for that, followed by some treat rewarding. However, I need to find said mailbox first. I know that it's located halfway down the block, but not sure exactly where. So, when I have walked down part of the block and I know I'm near, I drop the handle, use the cane and walk down the rest of the way, until my cane, who is meant to hit objects, finds the mailbox. Now, I can use the training of the dog to have him learn the mailbox so the next time I need it, he can take me there without me using the cane. There are a lot more examples of how a cane is used to help me find things, most of which are not directly guide dog related.
> 
> I hope this answers your question, if it was one and not a joke. I take this very seriously.
> 
> 
> --
> Raul A. Gallegos
> Assistive Technology Trainer - RGA Tech Solutions
> Voice and Text: 832.554.7285
> Office: 832.639.4477
> Personal Email: raul at raulgallegos.com
> Work Email: training at rgats.com
> Twitter: @rga7285 and @RGATrainer
> 
> “Any teacher that can be replaced with a computer, deserves to be.” - David Thornburg
> 
>> On 2/10/2017 12:17 PM, Dan Weiner via NAGDU wrote:
>> Hmmm and how is your cane supposed to help you find eanything, Raul, unless
>> frankly you have a lot of vision in which case I understand, after all, use
>> what you got--smile
>> 
>> Dan
> 
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