Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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I witnessed what appeared to be miscommunication between a blind man and his guide dog, is this normal, should I have helped? (self.Blind)
submitted by TheBreakRoom
As the title says, I witnessed what appeared to be miscommunication between a blind man and his guide dog.
Getting off the train in a very busy city, in a large crowd, there was a man with a guide dog who appeared to be blind. The dog stopped at the stairs and the man did his "forward" command including the hand motion, but the dog did nothing.
He tried again and the dog went a few steps and stopped. This happened at the second set of stairs and the man started to become understandably frustrated basically to the point of yelling forward.
I felt incredibly awful for both of them. But my question is how normal is this? And who is responsible? And how bad should I feel?
Is this is scenario where I should help? The dog looked fairly young I'm not sure if that's usual for a new guide dog, or if it's irresponsible to bring a newer dog into a stressful situation with large crowds. Just looking for some enlightenment on the subject. Any information is appreciated.
Getting off the train in a very busy city, in a large crowd, there was a man with a guide dog who appeared to be blind. The dog stopped at the stairs and the man did his "forward" command including the hand motion, but the dog did nothing.
He tried again and the dog went a few steps and stopped. This happened at the second set of stairs and the man started to become understandably frustrated basically to the point of yelling forward.
I felt incredibly awful for both of them. But my question is how normal is this? And who is responsible? And how bad should I feel?
Is this is scenario where I should help? The dog looked fairly young I'm not sure if that's usual for a new guide dog, or if it's irresponsible to bring a newer dog into a stressful situation with large crowds. Just looking for some enlightenment on the subject. Any information is appreciated.
Nighthawk321 10 points 5y ago
In this scenario, the man was definitely in the wrong. Guide dogs, at least mine, are trained to stop before stairs. He was suppose to reach out his foot to make sure there were stairs, and then proceed forward.
lizzyb187 3 points 5y ago
Maybe he was recently blind?
Nighthawk321 5 points 5y ago
Yeah, but typically people go through training before they get a guide dog. You can't just get one willy nilly, at least from a reputable school.
KillerLag 5 points 5y ago
Not to mention, the schools themselves usually have really good training. If the dog loks young, it may still be getting used to crowds or some other situation that threw him off. If it keeps happening, the handler should contact the school to do some troubleshooting.
jage9 3 points 5y ago
As for your question,it generally is not your place to intervene. some owners and guide dogs make better teams than others. And And there are also some owners who either did not learn what they should have from training or frankly are not good caretakers of their dogs. That being said, the relationship between an owner and their dog is pretty sacred and a special bond, and others getting involved would usually just make it worse and perhaps confuse the dog. Same reason you shouldn't pet a guide dog without asking first, it's a distraction.
I'm not a guide dog user so someone who is may have a better answer.
I'm not a guide dog user so someone who is may have a better answer.
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