[Nfbmo] you and dog guides.

[Fred Olver]

So, we're having a seminar on dog guides? An interesting topic to say the least. I do wonder though, why we are not having a seminar on the use of I-devices, an item which offers more flexability and perhapse more options in terms of offering independence to a much larger segment of our population/group. Let me say first of all that dogs are wonderful animals. I have two of them as pets. They each weigh about 40 pounds and help me to get some much-needed exercise on a daily basis. I decided to write this piece because I am concerned from the perspective of a former dog-user about the whole concept of your using a dog as a guide for the first time if you are considering doing so. There are some things I personally think you need to know that you probably won't hear at the seminar this Saturday. First of all, there's a good chance that some of your friends won't want your dog in their car, especially if it's wet. Some folks just don't want to deal with the whole issue of dog-hair and unless you are able to sit in the front seat, there may not be enough room for your dog in the back, on the floor where it should be. Secondly, although it is against the law, there are some cab drivers who will be unwilling to transport you and your dog because of their religious beliefs. Third your dog isn't always going to relieve itself on cue. There may be times when your dog decides to take a dump in a mall or public building and you will need to clean it up. You will no longer be an individual. You will be a team, and chances are that Fourth, at some point people are going to walk up to you and speak to the dog first. Five, sometimes, people may even feed your dog, or your dog may pick up some food from the floor when you are in a restaurant. Six, people are going to want to pet your dog, and my experience tells me that although you might want to make lots of friends and a dog is a good way to do so, that if your dog is in harness you ought not let anyone pet your dog not ever, while it is working. If you do, once, than your dog may think it is okay for folks to do that on a regular basis and begin asking for attention without your even knowing it. 

Some folks feel that because they have dogs as guides that they ought to be entitled to reduced rates for shots and other services from their veterinarian. At one time there used to be a tax credit for folks who make use of a dog guide although aI don't know that is true at this time. Some schools may offer assistance to extremely ill dogs, however you should expect that if your dog gets hurt that you need to be responsible to pay the vet bills. In other words, if your dog gets hurt, you should not expect someone else to pick up the tab  just because you are blind.

Some folks are going to be afraid of your dog, just because it is a dog. Your dog is not your child and should not be treated as such. It is a very loving animal, but it is also a tool which will allow you independence however if not handled properly it can become a burden, a miss-behaving child and more trouble than it is worth. Some people feel they must take their dog absolutely everywhere, some show more common sense and have determined that a baseball stadium or a bar are not good places for a dog. Make sure you use common sense when working your dog. Is it really necessary to inconvenience others so you can use your dog when you could give it a break and use your cane? After all, this whole independence thing, isn't it interdependence, and knowing when to allow yourself to rely on others at appropriate times? If you are going to make use of a dog guide, and I use this term because Guide Dogs is the name of an organization, you need to keep up your cane skills. You also need to let others feed your dog say once a week, and you need to give yourself time away from your dog, because if you don't, your dog may bond itself so much that it might not choose to eat when others attempt to give the dog it's dinner when you are away.



Below is a piece from my book Dealing With Vision Loss which can be found at http://www.dealingwithvisionloss.com  some folks will disagree with what I have said and what is said below, it is after all my own opinion. What matters though here, is that if you are going to consider getting a dog for use as a guide that you understand as much as possible some of the ramifications of doing so. The good and the bad. 



YOU AND DOG GUIDES 

I just can’t tell you how many times I have been asked “how come you don’t have a seeing eye dog?” Well, there are lots of reasons, but the fact is, that most sighted people look at dog guides as “Wonder-dogs.” When in reality, if you don’t know how to get some place, how are you going to tell your dog to get you there? When you look at the list of resources in this book, you will not find any dog guide schools listed. There is a specific reason for that. Most schools which train people who are blind to make use of dog guides like those individuals to be proficient in use of a cane, FIRST. Consequently, whether you want to use a cane or not, if you are thinking about getting a dog you need to learn to use a cane first. 

My own experience has taught me that, while using a dog guide, my orientation skills, that is to say that my skills of “knowing where I was in relation to my environment” deteriorated. I was relying on my dog, as I was supposed to, so much, that I inadvertently became less aware of what was around me. Partly because I was not using my cane to be able to know that that trash can or bench was there, because my dog guide was taking me around it, as he was supposed to, but I found that when I didn’t have my dog with me that getting around, maintaining my orientation and being mobile was a much more difficult proposition than with a dog and that in order for me to be able to maintain my orientation skills that I needed to stop using a dog. Over the years, dog guide schools have modified their stand on using canes and dogs. Used to be when you would go to the school, they would take your cane away from you. Now, some schools encourage folks to use their canes in unfamiliar areas, or in order to help you to determine where you are in relation to objects around you. A footnote to these comments 

concerning dogs, when I was learning to use a cane, I asked my Mobility instructor whether or not I ought to consider getting a dog guide? He said “no”, that my skills were good enough that I didn’t need one. Turns out he was right.