[NAGDU] New member, and newbie questions!

[Parham Doustdar]

Hi Jush,
Religion isn't an issue for me, so dogs are okay. Plus, it's taken hundreds of years for guide dogs to be recognized as a "service animal", I don't have the energy to fight for the right to take my service animal to places, thank you very much 😁
Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 22, 2023, at 23:49, Josh Kennedy via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> and if you want a guide horse, reach out to Mona Ramouni.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Sep 22, 2023, at 17:44, Bryan Gearry via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Parham, there is a Guide Dog school in Amsterdam. Have you reached out to them yet? They have teams all over the city. I'm sure they can help you answer some of those questions.
>> 
>>>> On 9/22/2023 12:43 PM, Parham Doustdar via NAGDU wrote:
>>> 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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