[NAGDU] Travel and ESA's

Wed May 2 18:40:24 UTC 2018

Buddy:

I only asked because in my 43 years of using guide dogs I have never heard 
of using a cane while working my dog.  None of the trainers I have ever 
worked with have ever suggested using both at the same time.  My concern was 
more about how the public would perceive this.  We want them to respect our 
use of a guide dogs.  If a person needs to use both a cane and guide dog 
then the public might feel then why do those blind people need those dogs 
anyway?  Whether we like it or not, the public is looking and forming their 
opinions on what they see us doing.  I was only asking why someone would 
need to use both a guide dog and a long white cane at the same time.  It was 
a concept that I had never encountered so I asked why.  No harm was meant by 
my innocent question and if someone took it wrong, then I am sorry.

Sandra
-----Original Message----- 
From: Buddy Brannan via NAGDU
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2018 10:15 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Buddy Brannan
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Travel and ESA's

I think Peter explained as much as he needs to why he sometimes carries/uses 
a cane. Moreover, there are occasions where many of us do use a cane in 
conjunction with a dog, or while heeling a dog, and perhaps not exactly in 
the same way that a full-time cane user does. None of which require an 
explanation. While it may not have been intentional, your tone comes off, at 
least to me, as unnecessarily confrontational. Of course, your feelings 
about people with low vision having guide dogs has been made pretty clear in 
the past, so this may well be coloring my perception.

—Buddy

> On May 2, 2018, at 9:59 AM, Sandra Johnson via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> 
> wrote:
>
> Hello:
>
> Why would you need to use a cane if your dog is a well trained safe guide? 
> In your case with some sight it seems that the cane would not be 
> necessary. Those of us who are totally blind do not use a cane with our 
> guide dogs. Didn't we get dogs so we can put the canes away?
>
> I do agree that something must be done about all the untrained dogs out in 
> the public, especially in airports.  As Jenine said the rules are there 
> but not enforced.  So, as NAGDU is an organization of guide dog handlers, 
> what can we do about this issue?
>
> Sandra
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Peter Wolf via NAGDU
> Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2018 2:32 AM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Peter Wolf
> Subject: [NAGDU] Travel and ESA's
>
> Wow guys.  It was just a couple of hours after writing to you all about 
> how important it has been to me for us in our family to hold a balance 
> between impeccable training and performance with ‘ambassadorship’ as a 
> working team. It included some of what I consider somewhat intimate 
> sharing about the bond and love side of being a team in our own personal 
> style that meets what we feel to be authentic to us (my wife and i both). 
> And how well it works.
>
> Now I’ve read the heads up messages from many of you about the recent 
> disgusting TV show about buying ESA status for pets.  I am just incensed. 
> I’ll bet many of you can share experiences like ours, of having been 
> snapped, barked and lunged at in airports and other places, or worse.  It 
> now happens every time we fly, which is probably 8 times a year.  It’s not 
> enough that our dogs ignore it.
>
> If any of you remember, I’ve written that with spatial as well as sight 
> issues, I often have my cane working, even with my dog.  And, I am quick 
> to swing a floor arc around my dog, to arrive the tip on the floor between 
> an incoming fake service dog and my dog.  That’s about all it takes,  No 
> hitting, no violence - just movement distraction and a physical object 
> quickly placed between the dogs as a separating deterrent with lateral 
> movement that seems to be an effective distraction.  It seems to be 
> disorienting to an aggressive dog to encounter an object suddenly 
> appearing from the side.  We keep moving forward, or my dog stops and sits 
> while I address the problem.  I’m vision impaired, not totally blind, so I 
> don’t know how well this would work for some of you.  I can say at the 
> least, this poor dog behavior startles me, and we've been fortunate that 
> none of us have been hurt before.  When was the last time we dealt with 
> this?  Let’s think back…actually…yesterday afternoon.
>
> I am formal calling on all of us to put our collective foot down about the 
> lack of training for ESA’s.  Who is the best, most potent place to begin 
> this process, who do we talk to?  This ethical and behavioral problem has 
> hurt enough of our real working dogs as a group of individuals, and will 
> only make life worse for us as people who have bona fide reasons to work 
> with them.  How can chip in here and name individuals in positions of 
> power to create a change, calling for initiating the necessity of ESA’s to 
> adhere to the same code of conduct that we do?  Let’s do something about 
> this.
>
> My best,
> Peter
>
>
>
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