”Interwoven into the fabric of my everyday, I see my guidedogs as a part of my soul — they are mates for life and in eternity.” (Ness Murby)
“As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen.”
(Winnie The Pooh)
Lexington is my, Ness Murby’s, second guidedog. We met each other at Guidedogs for the Blind’s Oregon campus in the November of 2012 and together we rediscovered the joy in adventuring; our first overseas pitstop was Seoul (2015). This year #QuotableLex, as he’s known on Instagram, will be 10 years old and his toasted marshmallow self is still on the job. In our time together we’ve lived in both city and country and city again, from the 9-5 to the unconventional any day workweek, from Athletics Canada and Canadian Paralympic Committee podiums to wandering picnics, done months of being on the road and a long covid year of being local… WHERE TO NEXT ?!?! — Lex is my go-with-the-flow, happy-go-lucky, mister sensitive, simple pleasures kindness guy.
Verdi was my first guidedog, a chocolate Seeing Eye Dogs Australia Labrador retriever. From the November of 2006 us and adventures, adventures and us, we were inseparable from the very first; we moved to Tokyo, just us two, in 2008. In our time together we took the world by storm from university to big wide world, it was planes, trains & automobiles, teamjapan titles and oxfam trailwalker trekking. Verdi retired early to a life with us as a family man due to PTSD following the March 11th 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami (10 years ago today we were still huddled experiencing aftershocks) — Verdi was my diligent worker, contented soul, adaptable explorer, and ever wise serious little man (RIP mate 2003-2016)
Interwoven into the fabric of my everyday, I see my guidedogs as a part of my soul — they are mates for life and in eternity.
SO ASK ME
ABOUT MY TOTALLY. AMAZING. DOG!!!
Guidedog basics
Guidedogs are working dogs specifically tasked with guiding a blind or visually impaired person. These specially trained dogs help the handler (the blind or visually impaired person) navigate physical environments through alerting them to some of the visuals of their surroundings such as curbs, roads, stairs, doorways and many more… in fact the handler and guidedog team will create a vocabulary over their working relationships such “find a seat”, “find the bus stop” etc. REMEMBER every working team is different and so is the vocabulary and extent of the work that a guidedog can do.
Did you know ? Guidedogs are trained to intelligently disobey.
Intelligent disobedience is when a service animal trained to help a disabled person goes directly against the owner’s instructions in an effort to make a better decisions. This means that if a guidedog thinks their person is in danger, such as to cross a road with oncoming traffic, a guidedog is trained to refuse to move ahead even if their person is commanding them to do so. Intelligent disobedience requires the guidedog to be paying close attention so that they can assess every situation fully.
Guidedogs are known by a few different names depending on which school of training and or region of the world they are from — for example, you might hear the term Guidedog or Seeing Eye Dog interchanged. That said, guidedogs are different from other service dogs such as Assistance Dogs, Autism Dogs etc.
Guidedog Etiquette
A guidedog is working, “on duty”, when they are wearing their harness, even if they are at rest. Guidedog harnesses are specific to the school of training and are specially designed with a handle attachment which is usually attached at either shoulder via connection points on either side of the harness. The harness acts as a communication tool between the guidedog and handler, it allows the handler to feel both pull and directional shifts from the guidedog via the handle.
When you meet a Guidedog, it’s really important to remember that these dogs are working and should not be distracted from their vitally important job or it could put the person they are guiding in danger.
DON’T:
- Distract a working guidedog. This means don’t gesture, wave, whistle, call, or talk to the the guidedog. Guidedogs need to concentrate to be able to do their best work and having other people distracting them makes this very difficult and dangerous.
- Touch a working guidedog without the handler’s permission, always ask first. Sometimes a handler may let you; other times they may ask you not to.
- Give food or treats to a guidedog, even to one that’s under a table. They are fed very special dog food and anything else may make them sick.
- Let your pet(s) interact with a working guidedog even if you think they are just being friendly.
- Discriminate against a person because they are using a guidedog. Handlers are entitled the same rights as if they were without a dog (ie access).
DO:
- Feel free to say hello to the owner and tell them you think their guidedog is awesome. They think so too.
- Offer assistance to a guidedog handler if you think it may be required.
- Speak directly to the person, not the guidedog, when communicating or offering assistance.
- Keep your pet(s) leashed and controlled. Sadly there are reports of guidedogs being attacked by pet dogs every month. The impact of an aggressive interaction affects both guidedog and handler, and can be devastating. It can even result in retirement of the guidedog. So please put a lead on your dog if you see a guidedog approaching even if you’re confident your dog will behave (better safe than sorry)
- Keep pathways clear of obstacles and overhanging bushes trimmed to fence line.
- Leave doors fully open or fully closed. It can be difficult for a guidedog to indicate the midway or narrowed space effectively.
- Walk about 1 metre ahead if the handler has instructed their Guidedog to “follow” you and continue talking to the person as you would naturally (a guidedog follows you as you walk, you don’t need to direct the guidedog).
- Alert the person to any unusual behaviour or physical appearance of their Guidedog
Guidedog etiquette related resources:
How to help guidedogs and their owners
Vision Australia Seeing Eye Dogs
BC and Alberta Guidedogs