Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!olivea!oliveb!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!89!William.Wilson
From: William.Wilson@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (William Wilson)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: dogs
Message-ID: <14769@bunker.UUCP>
Date: 4 Oct 90 19:09:25 GMT
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Reply-To: William.Wilson@f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org
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Index Number: 10931

[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

 WS>      Now, with anything comes disadvantages, and you have to 
 WS>  weigh them.   The better cane traveler you are, the better dog 
 WS>  traveler you will be. 

Pop,
    You make me proud!
     You know, I am not one of those people who thinks that a guide dog
is the right route for every blink to take for mobility, or even that it
is necessarily right for the majority of blinks, but I know of very few
people, if any, who have used both a cane and a dog to any great extent
and who don't find traveling more efficient and easier with a dog!
Yeah, yeah, I hear a lot of people who say they are just as good a
traveler with a cane as any dog user they know, but this is, of course,
just conjecture on their part and not a fair comparison since it is
different individuals.
     I certainly don't want this to turn into a guide dog versus cane
debate, cause frankly, from my experience, we are very close to talking
apples and oranges here.  Like you said though, the better a cane
traveler one is, the better a dog traveler they become if they decide to
get one, and the image of a person being a good cane traveler and then
not being able to get around as well with a dog is ludicrous!
     If those disadvantages we spoke about that go with having a dog
arn't worth it to you, or if like you, you don't travel a lot any more,
of course you shouldn't get a guide dog, but using comparisons of one's
cane abilities with other's dog abilities most definately ain't the
proper thing to do.
     Hey Walter, you said you don't travel as much any more, and it just
occured to me that you met Strider a little over a year ago and got
along just fine!  Hey, he was laid back when you met him then, you ought
to see him now!  Maybe the two of you would be a perfect match!
Remember, he has sysop status on BlinkLink, so he could come to you with
a nice bundle of files too!  Think about it pop, ok?
                                        Willie
     

... Even if you're not the lead dog, the view can be interesting!

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