[Ohio-talk] Canes and dogs thanks

[David Cohen]

In response to that which I wrote regarding guide dogs and white
canes, thank you to all of you who contacted me with encouraging
appreciative words.

As for considering a guide dog… Man oh man would I love to do it
again.  I would love to do the 28 day training in northern California
and be surrounded by all the dogs and staff at GDB.  Come to think of
it… I would love to repeat my 10 months at BLIND, Inc.  I would do a
30-month get-away and include Colorado and Louisiana; sort of like a
holiday cruise that stops in several beautiful places.  I would earn
milage travel points and return again maybe even bring along friends
and family.

Personally I would love to experience “drop-offs” weekly here in
Dayton.  I would also love to be there when another blind person
experiences for the first time the power of the cane and the simple
and ordinary magnificence of alternative techniques in practice. To
feel and witness the growing confidence another is definitely worth
celebrating.

I would also love to feel the pull of a guide into a harness again,
and to experience the developing skill of a dog.  And then there’s the
dog’s excitement when the handler recognizes and praises the dog for
something well-done that was intuated.

Come to think of it, I would recommend blindness to anyone as a great
experience.  As in, “Really you’ve got to do this.  It’s not at all
anything like you think it is.  Just do it.  I promise you’ll be glad
you did.”