[NAGDU] SWITCHING FROM CANE TO DOG, AND OTHER THOUGHTS

[sblanjones11 at sbcglobal.net]

Hello Parham and listers,

I got my first dog right out of high school, and had a difficult experience,
which ended in about three years.
I then used a cane for 21 years, pretty successfully, and decided it was
time to look again at the guide dog experience.
I very much wondered how, or whether, I would be able to adjust.  
It was much easier than I expected.  The hardest thing was to travel with
much less hard information, and the easiest thing was enjoying the walk
more, as I could pay attention to something besides the topography in front
of me.
I am now working with my seventh guide dog.  I believe in keeping up my cane
skills as well, because they are needed at times when I can't take my dog,
and obviously between dogs.

Guide dogs are only trained to guide one person, though it might work with
the two of you on rare occasions, and for short stretches, if one walked
directly behind the other.

As far as traveling different routes all the time, when you and your dog get
to know what is expected of each other, this is very possible.  The first
thing is to build that trusting relationship between the two of you, and
learn to travel safely together, and then you can go anywhere, expected or
unexpected, you discover it together.

Kind regards,
Susan Jones, Indianapolis Indiana


-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Parham Doustdar via
NAGDU
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2023 4:44 PM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Cc: Parham Doustdar <parham90 at gmail.com>
Subject: [NAGDU] New member, and newbie questions!

Hi all,
My name is Parham. I'm originally from Iran, and I've moved to Amsterdam as
an expat and recently become a citizen.
I'm here because I don't speak much Dutch, and the information I can find
online on guide dogs is very limited. So I thought I'd join this list and
talk to some real people having real guide dogs! :-) I had some starting
questions if you don't mind.
First, I and my wife are both blind. What would your advice be to a blind
couple? Should we, or should we not, walk with the guide dog together? Since
I'm the one getting a guide dog, can she ever take the dog out in a harness?
Would the person with a cane be walking behind? Any other points?
Secondly, we love experiencing new things. That's why we'll regularly go on
new routes. We have very few "regular" routes, so most of the time we'll be
using GPS software and going on a route we might never go on again. How does
this affect a guide dog? Is that even something that a guide dog user should
be doing? Most of the accounts I can find online, including in Allison's
book Paws That Change My Life, is from people who have routes they frequent.
And lastly, I know this comes up often, so sorry for opening what might be a
can of worms, but what was the experience of a highly skilled cane user
switching to a guide dog? I am completely blind and can go almost anywhere
with a cane, but I'm trying to (1) increase my speed, and (2) go out more
confidently in windy and rainy weather, which is too frequent in NL for my
liking, LOL! I'm curious what people with good cane skills found on the
other side of the switch.
Thanks a lot for all opinions in advance!
Best,
Parham
Sent from my iPhone
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