[nfb-talk] Speed of walking, dog vs cane

Tue Apr 22 15:34:21 CDT 2008

I am 5 fee 7 and I use a 63 inch cane.  If you use a 54, you may not 
want to jump to much for your first cane I would recommend that you 
should end up at 65 inches, but maybe you want to go to a 59 or 61 as 
an interim step.

Dave

p.s.  We generally say the cane should come to about your nose.

Dave

At 03:12 PM 4/22/2008, you wrote:
>I agree with your comment about the dog sometimes running me into low
>hanging branches. Apparently, he doesn't know how tall I am. I'm 5'11" and
>he seems to think I'm 5'8. I almost always wear a hat and it kept me from
>getting hurt more than once. However, the problem would be greatly
>compounded with a cane. How do people who travel exclusively with a cane
>deal with this risk?
>
>Immediately after I posted my questions, it occured to me that my cane might
>be shorter than what most really good cane travelers use. I've heard that
>the NFB recommends longer canes. By happy coincidence, I was just about to
>order a new cane. As I mentioned, i'm five feet eleven inches tall. Anyone
>71 inches tall -- how long is your cane. When I was fitted for my first
>cane, they told me it should come up to my armpit. So I got a 54 inch cane
>and have been using that length ever since.
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Sekhon, Harmeet" <Harmeet_Sekhon at cable.comcast.com>
>To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 2:56 PM
>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Speed of walking, dog vs cane
>
>
> > Some things to think about.
> >
> > A dog theoretically watches for overhead or shoulder level clearances.
> > Theoretically.  Doesn't always work.  I have to rework my dog sometimes
> > when the theory doesn't ring true.
> >
> > A cane finds what's on the sidewalk before you do, if the cane's being
> > used correctly and if its long enough.  You don't need to know if the
> > sidewalk's clear beforehand, but you don't with a dog either.  This is
> > because a dog stops at anything in the way, if the dog is doing what
> > guide dogs do.
> >
> > I find myself getting a bit lax sometimes when I'm working my dog.  I
> > don't mean that I'm not paying attention.  I'm just paying less
> > attention maybe and my mind is wandering around more.  So, I don't know
> > if I really should be walking as fasrt as I do, but I do.  Then again, I
> > like walking fast.  Remember that dogs also pull into harness.  For me,
> > that feels good.
> >
> > Also remember that we do get information from both methods.  But they
> > give us different kinds of info.  A lot of times, I just feel like I
> > don't need all of the information my cane would give me.  For those
> > times--and it is most of the time--I use my dog.  Other times, I'd
> > rather use my cane if I need to really analyze a situation.  Happens a
> > lot too.  So, I carry my cane in a backpack or briefcase with me so I
> > can pull it out, use it, heel my dog for a certain leg or the whole
> > trip, and get the thing done.
> >
> > Hope that helps.
> >
> > Harmeet
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nfb-talk-bounces+harmeet_sekhon=cable.comcast.com at nfbnet.org
> > [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces+harmeet_sekhon=cable.comcast.com at nfbnet.org] On
> > Behalf Of John Heim
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 12:40 PM
> > To: nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> > Subject: [nfb-talk] Speed of walking, dog vs cane
> >
> > Some questions occured to me when my guide dog let me run into something
> >
> > while we were passing a construction site last week. It occured to me
> > that
> > he hadn't let me run into anything for years and it got me thinking.
> >
> > Am I mistaken in thinking that I can walk faster with a guide dog than I
> > can
> > with a cane? The reason I think I can walk faster with a dog is that the
> > dog
> > keeps me from running into things. He's not perfect but as a rule, he
> > keeps
> > me from hitting things at sholder level or above which you cannot do
> > with a
> > cane. If you're walking along at 3 miles per hour with a cane, aren't
> > you
> > taking a unacceptable risk? If you hit a low hanging tree branch or a
> > piece
> > of lumber sticking out of a pickup truck parked in a driveway, you could
> >
> > seriously hurt yourself.  Also, my reaction time doesn't seem to allow
> > me to
> > respond quicly enough to walk as fast with a cane as I do with my dog.
> > If I
> > know the sidewalk ahead of me is clear, I can walk as fast with a cane
> > as I
> > do with a dog. But if there is an obstacle, I'd hit it because I just
> > couldn't stop fast enough.
> >
> >
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