Question about guide dogs for the blind

[Lady Whistledown]

Having passed a man with a guide dog in Brighton today, I found myself pondering a couple of questions.

(1) How does the dog know where it's going? By that, I mean, to Tesco, or to the Post Office, say. I presume the process relies on the owner knowing their route anyway, in which case isn't the dog superfluous (ie a white stick would do the trick)? What's to stop the dog walking straight past Tesco instead of going in?

(2) What happens when the dog needs to, you know, go? Do they just go when the urge overtakes them like every other dog, making the owner wait (and I assume not scooping up the result), or are they trained to go in a particular place, like the garden at home?

I hope this doesn't come across as flippant, I just really want to know

 

[clapham_gull]

Can't answer your questions but I had a very long conversation with a blind man on the train down to Brighton one.

The dogs are incredibly happy and content which is something you get to notice quite quickly.

They are also very very healthy, their diet being very strict and having regular check ups.

I would therefore presume - they are quite, er regular.

I seem to recall there are two main stages of training, the second stage being with the actual blind person themselves. I would suggest the dogs know how to get to Sainsburys because quite simply it's been trained to go there.

 

[Bry Nylon]

I would suggest the dogs know how to get to Sainsburys because quite simply it's been trained to go there.

Yes. Its a very similar process to that used when I was married

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Also, say a blind person wants to buy a tin of Heinz tomato soup. The dog might lead him to the right aisle, at the command 'Soup, Rover', but when he gets there how does he manage to pick up a Tomato can as opposed to say a Mulligatawny or a Scotch Broth?

Its like blind MAGIC.

 

[Lady Bracknell]

I can't answer the specifics but I can say that my dog seems to recognise that guide dogs are working in some capacity that rules out mutual bum sniffing interludes. So when he meets a guide dog he walks past them in a respectful manner.

It may be, of course, that there's some sort of silent dog to dog communication along the lines of "Move Along, Son. Unless you want me to tear you from limb to limb and feast on your entrails next time I catch sight of you".

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Another question: how come other dogs don't try and hump them: that's what most dogs seem to do to each other when they meet in the street, either that or sniff each other's bums. Obviously you can train the guide dog not to react to other mutts, but you can't train some scraggy mongrel to stay away from these saintly labradors, can you?

Maybe guide dogs are like the Mother Teresa of the canine world, and other dogs know instinctively it would be plain wrong.



<edits: Roz, that was uncanny!>

 

[Lady Bracknell]

PS. Of knowing routes to places, my dog can find The Gardeners Arms from any starting point in Lewes.

 

[Spunk Bubble]

This is the way forward !

YouTube - Guide Cat

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

It's Hearing Dogs For The Deaf that puzzles me.

Dogs For The Blind I can understand.

But not Dogs For The Deaf.

I'm obviously missing something...

 

[Jamon Jamon]

It's Hearing Dogs For The Deaf that puzzles me.

Dogs For The Blind I can understand.

But not Dogs For The Deaf.

or indeed, reaching dogs for the short



.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

or thinking dogs for the stupid

 

[clapham_gull]

It's Hearing Dogs For The Deaf that puzzles me.

Dogs For The Blind I can understand.

But not Dogs For The Deaf.

I'm obviously missing something...

Well there will be all sorts of things you take for granted.

Door bell, telephone ringing, fire alarm, smoke alarm, the sound of someonse smashing your door in, even a glass falling on the floor.

They are trained to alert the owner to certain sounds.

Just like having a pet, but a very useful one.

 

[HampshireSeagulls]

Why do they have signs on doors that say "Guide Dogs Only". Can they read as well?

Should we be scared of them?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Well there will be all sorts of things you take for granted.

Door bell, telephone ringing, fire alarm, smoke alarm, the sound of someonse smashing your door in, even a glass falling on the floor.

They are trained to alert the owner to certain sounds.

Just like having a pet, but a very useful one.

All good points, all well made

Apart from maybe the one about the telephone ringing...

 

[clapham_gull]

All good points, all well made

Apart from maybe the one about the telephone ringing...

why ? I'd think you'd be surprised...

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

why ?

You're going to say something at this point about a special phone that translates sound into visible words. I just KNOW you are

 

[clapham_gull]

You're going to say something at this point about a special phone that translates sound into visible words. I just KNOW you are

There are text to text phones...

and services run by BT (I think) where speak is typed by operators, or spoken - so communication can take place between a normal phone and a text based one.

Speech Relay or something.. yep, even the deaf have telephones.

(and dogs to tell them when it's ringing.....)

 

[Yorkie]

The telephones for the deaf have flashing lights. Hearing aids have loops. Not all deaf people are stone deaf. There are lots of degrees of deafness.

 

[clapham_gull]

The telephones for the deaf have flashing lights. Hearing aids have loops. Not all deaf people are stone deaf. There are lots of degrees of deafness.

.. and the dog will be trained to alert the owner to the flashing lights I suspose if they are out of the room.

I've read a bit about them - they are trained to do certain things on responding to different sounds.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

There are seizure alert dogs too, which alert their epileptic owners prior to a seizure, so they can go to a safe place.

Is there anything they can't do?

Apart from ice skating?