davis_square | Blindie fails and wins in Davis.

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Blindie fails and wins in Davis.

- Two barking, snarling bulldogs pinning me and my guide dog to the wall on Elm and Day Streets yesterday afternoon. The dogs were on-leash, but it took both the owner and another gentleman to physically pull the dogs away. My guide dog was okay. I was less okay, emotionally (but fine physically). It takes a lot to get me to scream.

+ The owner making a point of coming into Starbucks, identifying himself, and apologizing profusely. It was clear that he felt absolutely terrible, and I give him significant credit for actively taking responsibility, which a lot of other people would not have done.

- My being too rattled to say this to him at the time: Please do not walk your aggressive dogs in a public space, especially in the middle of the afternoon, when they're clearly not under your control and a danger to others. They need to be muzzled or they need to stay home. (I'm not trying to be passive-aggressive by posting this here; again, I was just too unnerved at the time to say or do anything useful.) Had my guide dog been injured, all the apologies of the world could not have mitigated the damage to my life.

+ The witness who ended up in front of me in the line at Starbucks expressing her compassion, then proceeding to pay for my drink. Wow. I think her name was Christina, and she made things much more bearable.

- Feeling calmer and proceeding toward home, only to be treated hostilely by another denizen because I did not want to cross Chester Street exactly when she told me to. When I said I was trying to listen to the traffic first, she snapped, "Fine--all you're hearing is a parked car running right now, so you do what you want!" Dear Self-Appointed Crossing Guard: a. I've been crossing streets all by myself for my entire adult life, and since I am an adult, you don't get to make my mobility decisions for me; b. You forgot to ask me if I needed or wanted assistance (a request may well be appreciated; an assumption/insistence never is); c. Your shouting, "It's safe! Go! I said it's safe! CROSS! IT'S SAFE! I'M STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET!" oddly does not inspire a lot of confidence; d. Feel free to go back and stand in the middle of the street for a while, IYKWIM.

- Not wanting to leave my house today.

+ Remembering that Davis Square-ians are actually on the whole some of the most educated, respectful, and generous people I've met anywhere, and that I love living here. Maybe I will leave the house after all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What a clueless jerk

Pretty much this, yeah. Thanks.

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I don't understand people who let their dogs run around off-leash on bikepaths and heavily trafficked areas. Even if you couldn't care less about other people, don't you at least care about your dog? I don't care how good you think Fluffy's recall is--she's still a dog, and if she sees another dog, or a squirrel, or a particularly interesting leaf she will still dart out in front of a bike or car without a second thought.

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Ugh, out-of-control children--don't get me started. You need a license to drive a car but, etc.

and a muzzle on kids, for that matter :)

I...happen to agree with you. :) But I'll settle for their being under non–cruel-and-unusual control.

Am I missing a key character in the story?

probably the self-appointed crossing guard

Oh, your are right. For some reason, I had imagined an obnoxious guy reading the last part, and had missed the female references...

That must have been so scary! I'm glad to hear the guy at least apologized. But seriously, taking two powerful dogs out at the same time in a very high-traffic public area may not be the best idea ever. (I do know some big dogs that are extremely placid and gentle, but on the other hand sometimes the dog's owner is really wearing rose-colored glasses.)

Your shouting, "It's safe! Go! I said it's safe! CROSS! IT'S SAFE! I'M STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET!" oddly does not inspire a lot of confidence

*snort* For some reason! Yeesh.

So many dog owners seem to be in denial about their dogs' issues. While he was apologizing, this owner characterized the dogs as "nervous." Their behavior may well have been rooted in anxiety, but he made it sound so benign! Those dogs were aggressive, and he should start approaching his ownership of them with that in mind.

Ugh, how nerve wracking! Glad you are physically OK.

Just out of curiosity, what are working guide dogs trained to do when other dogs come after them?

They're not trained to do anything in particular in that situation, exactly. Under normal circumstances, they are trained to not approach other dogs (to the extent that's possible, since of course they're still dogs themselves) and they're trained to not bark or show aggression. They're also trained to be friendly and docile in general.

In the event of a vicious dog attack, though, for the most part their instincts will kick in and they'll defend themselves. (I say "for the most part" because I have heard before of dogs that just lay down and took it, which breaks my heart.) As handlers we're told to basically let go of the harness and let them do that, if that's what it comes to. In yesterday's kind of situation where the dogs lunge and make a lot of noise but don't actually make contact, the guide dog's response will vary a lot more according to its personality. More alpha dogs might make a lot of noise right back at them; softer dogs might cower. Mine just kind of stood there and curved her body away and looked at them like they were nuts, but I hope she, too, would drop her training and defend herself if it came to an actual fight.

ETA: I should clarify that if a passing dog is making a lot of noise and movement but is clearly not a danger and under the owner's control, guide dogs are trained to simply ignore and work past them (which, again, is great in theory...!). If the guide dog growls or lunges in that situation, it's considered inappropriate aggression. My comments about the range of responses referred to times when the other dog was out of control and/or cornering our team.

Edited 2010-01-09 21:37 (UTC)

All dogs that size should be required to be muzzled anyway, when being taken around public places. Many times, tiny people are seen holding one or more huge dogs on a leash. Obviously, these people would not be able to control their dogs, so the leash is only symbolic.

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Really? Are you suggesting we should put a leash on the owners? You don't think that a good kick in the nose would take care of a small dog out of control? I know it does, for having tried it a few times. Still waiting for the owner to complain about that. I don't give a damn how "well trained" a large animal is. Nobody knows what that means, anyway, and nobody can predict reactions by animals in crowded urban environments. I want large animals muzzled, so that, when they go nuts they cannot kill or severely injure a person. I can deal with the small ones.

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I would suggest you not feed our troll.

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Local under-the-bridge type. =)

it's never been clear to me what wifi provider set that access point up under McGrath.

I always assumed it was the RR bridge in Ball, but I could be wrong.

Instead, I hear about people getting killed by small dogs ALL the time!
I demand mandatory muzzling of large dogs in public places. It's coming, only a matter of time.

I don't understand. Why would you hesitate before trusting a *total stranger* with your life and limb??? ;-)

Particularly Boston pedestrians, whom I've seen take some pretty hefty risks at intersections!

I'm sorry you had a scary experience and glad that you and dog are okay.

Thanks.

I'm also amazed at how many people let their dogs run off leash on the bike path.

They don't care that they endanger others and their pets.

I am so glad that things worked out OK, but that must have been a terrifying event for you and your dog. Best thoughts to you.

Thank you. :)

Wild dogs, wild people--you had a lot of wildness to deal with! Your post to vent about it is absolutely and appropriate vent. I am angry on your behalf at the stupid and sorry that you had to go through that.

Aw, thanks so much! I really appreciate that.

OK, I *really* hope this doesn't get taken the wrong way or trounced all over, because it is truly a serious question:

How are you posting on livejournal if you are blind?

Ugh, I feel ignorant. I hope this question doesn't offend you. I'm just curious. And I'm very sorry to hear about the incidents you encountered and glad to hear you and your dog are OK.

You'd be surprised how many different types of software and peripherals are available to assist people with disabilities use computers these days! Although I can't speak for the OP, many people who are blind or visually impaired use screen reading software to listen to emails, web pages, etc. and are able to touch type on a standard keyboard after some practice.

There are also refreshable braille writers that can display text in braille for the blind to read.

The company I used to work for, National Braille Press, is developing some new technology like this now... www.nbp.org has some information. It is really interesting and a wonderful step for the blind so that information can be accessed by all.

To the OP, I am glad that you are ok. That must have been a terrifying situation and I am disheartened by the fact that there are still so many ignorant people out there. It is good to read though that this experience has not made you want to stay inside forever. There is too much life to live!

The level of disability-related ignorance still out there in the wider world is actually kind of mind-numbing, when it's not making you want to scream. As far as individual locales go, though, Boston really is pretty great.

At the moment I use a combination of large, bold fonts and an assistive technology application called ZoomText (http://www.aisquared.com/zoomtext/) to access the computer. ZoomText will magnify the screen contents and/or read them aloud to you; I use these features both independently and in combination. Other blind folks use straight-up screenreaders like JAWS (http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/fs/jaws-product-page.asp) or Window-Eyes (http://www.gwmicro.com/Window-Eyes/), which just read the screen to you without magnification. Still other folks use the newer Macs, which now come with screenreading and magnification right out of the box. Braille readers can also use refreshable braille displays (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refreshable_Braille_display), either alone or in combination with other assistive tech.

Hope that's helpful! :)

A Bark Collar (http://www.radiofence.com/categories/Bark-Collars/) is a safe, effective and humane way to train your dog not to bark too much. Clinical studies conducted by the College of Veterinary medicine of Cornell University have proven that Spray Bark Collars (http://www.radiofence.com/categories/Bark-Collars/) are TWICE as effective as shock collars! Sonic dog barking collars are virtually ineffective compared to spray.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Blindie fails and wins in Davis.

Self-appointed crossing guard

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I'm all for putting a leash

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What woman?

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Terrible.

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