[NAGDU] questions on when to get a dog and how it affects international travel

[Julie Johnson]

Welcome to the list!

When is it the right time to get a guide dog?
That's kind of like asking when is it the right time to have kids! *smile* 
I don't think there's one right answer that applies to everyone, or even 
makes sense to try to apply to everyone.  It has to be the right time for 
you.  You do need to have basic cane travel skills, be able to know where 
you are and have a sense of what you need to do to get where you want to go 
and feel a dog would help you.  I suggest spending some time with someone 
who uses a guide dog.  Go for a walk with the person and their dog, see what 
the dog does and doesn't do, ask some questions and get a feel for if a dog 
is for you.

Most blind people don't have guide dogs.  I heard somewhere that something 
like 10% of blind people have a guide dog.  That's just a number rolling 
around in my head and may be off a bit.  I've been to a lot of blindness 
events though and the 10% number feels about right.  So if you never get a 
dog, that's totally fine too.

You can travel to other countries with your dog, most of them anyway.  You 
have to check the laws where you are going to know exactly what you need to 
do.  Different countries have different requirements.  Generally it's going 
to involve a lot of paperwork, up to date vaccinations/deworming/flea 
treatments, a trip to the vet before you travel and probably a 
meeting/interview when you arrive in the other country to review your 
documents.   If you're good at advance planning, you'll be fine.

On the topic of leaving the dog behind for a week or two while you travel, I 
think I'm probably in the minority here, but I think it's okay.  It's better 
if you can do this further along in the working life of the dog.  It's not a 
good idea to only have had the dog a month or two and then leave for a 
couple of weeks, but if you've had the dog for a year or two and need to do 
this, it's much less of a problem.  I think it also depends on the 
individual dog.  Some dogs are going to adapt to this better than others. 
Where your dog would be staying with familiar people in a familiar place, I 
think it's less of a problem.  A dog isn't going to lose it's training after 
a week or two of not working.  It takes months for the training to 
deteriorate to a problem level, at least with an experienced dog.  Again a 
new dog is going to struggle with this more.

Again welcome!
Julie
On The Go with Guide-and-Service-Dogs.com
http://www.guide-and-service-dogs.com
also find my products in the Blind Mice Mega Mall
<https://www.blindmicemegamall.com/bmm/shop/Directory_Departments?storeid=1916046>
-----Original Message----- 
From: Ryan Boudwin via NAGDU
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2018 4:18 AM
To: NAGDU at nfbnet.org
Cc: Ryan Boudwin
Subject: [NAGDU] questions on when to get a dog and how it affects 
international travel

Hey everyone,

I was recently diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. I'm pretty early in the
progression; my mid-periphery is gone but I still have reliable central
vision and some far periphery, but it will get worse over time.

I am now using a cane and have stopped driving. At what point would it make
sense for me to consider getting a guide dog? I'm 33 and pretty active. I'm
employed in IT management and I like to go hiking a lot. I walk very fast.
I am assuming I have too much usable vision to get a dog right now but I'm
wondering at what vision loss threshold should I look into it?

My other question is that I travel for work from the USA to Ireland 1-2
times a year for 1-2 weeks each time. I may end up needing to travel to
Singapore occasionally as well as we are opening an office there.
Maintaining my ability to travel for work is important to my job and I
enjoy travelling internationally. How do you take a service animal on a
long haul flight like that? Should I just revert to a cane for trips like
that? If I did that how would my dog handle my absence? I have a wife and
three kids, so the dog wouldn't be alone but I've heard guide dogs struggle
with absences sometimes.

Ryan Boudwin
ryanboudwin at gmail.com
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