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The Semiotic Challenges of Guide Dog Teams: the Experiences of German, Estonian and Swedish Guide Dog Users

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Abstract

Based on interviews with guide dog users from Sweden, Estonia and Germany and participatory observation of the teams’ work, the article discusses three kinds of semiotic challenges encountered by the guide dog teams: perceptual, sociocultural and communicative challenges. Perceptual challenges stem from a mismatch between affordances of the urban environment and perceptual and motoric abilities of the team. Sociocultural challenges pertain to the conflicting meanings that are attributed to (guide) dogs in different social contexts and to incompatible social norms. Challenges related to intrateam communication and interpretation of the other counterpart’s behavior are mostly tied to the difficulties of placing the other’s activities in the right context. Germany, Estonia and Sweden differ in their history of guide dog institutions and the organisation of guide dog work, but the challenges of the guide dog users appear to be fairly similar. However, differences appear in the stress laid on one or another type of challenge as well as in the explanations provided by the informants for the background of the challenges. The challenges, as analysed in the article, reflect not only the existing problems of guide dog users, but also their expectations for a social and physical environment, in which the teams would feel welcome.

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Notes

  1. The sources for this information are: for Germany Der Blindenführhund 2006, for Sweden interview with the head of guide dogs section by the Swedish National Association of the Visually Impaired Ulrika Norelius Centervik, 5.06.2013, Stockholm and for Estonia communication with the Board of the Estonian Association of Guide Dog Users.

  2. The information is obtained from correspondence with Sabine Häcker and Robert Böhm from German Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted (DBSV) for Germany; from an interview with Ulrika Norelius Centervik from the Swedish National Association of the Visually Impaired (SRF) (5.06.2013, Stockholm) for Sweden; and from correspondence with the Board of the Estonian Association of Guide Dog Users for Estonia.

  3. Livsmedelsverket. Får man ta med sig sin ledarhund på restaurang eller i en livsmedelsbutik?: http://www.slv.se/sv/Fragor--svar/Fragor-och-svar/Hygien-och-hallbarhet/Far-man-ta-med-sig-sin-ledarhund-pa-restaurang-eller-i-en-livsmedelsbutik/ Accessed 21.09.2014

  4. In conjunction with the Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament, http://www.miljohalsoskydd.ax/Gemensamt/Filer/Riktlinjer%20egenkontroll%20.pdf

    Accessed 21.09.2014

  5. Sozialgesetzbuch (SGB): www.sozialgesetzbuch-sgb.de/ Accessed 21.09.2014

  6. “Betreten von Lebensmittelgeschäften mit Blindenführhund oder Assistenzhund erlaubt” (Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft): http://www.bmelv.de/DE/Ernaehrung/SichereLebensmittel/Hygiene/_Texte/MitBlindenhundLebensmittelgeschaeft.html?nn=406624 Accessed 21.09.2014

  7. Deutscher Blinden- und Sehbehindertenverband e. V. (DBSV): http://www.dbsv.org/dbsv/unsere-struktur/dbsv-gremien/blindenfuehrhundhalter/rechtsfragen-zum-blindenfuehrhund/ Accessed 21.09.2014

  8. Ühistranspordiseadus, RT I 2000, 10, 58: https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/%C3%9CTS Accessed 21.09.2014

  9. Here and hereafter the letter in the brackets indicates the gender of the informant and the number refers to the age of the informant.

  10. Tottmar, Mia Ledarhundar portas från lokaler i stan: ”Det är förnedrande. ” (Guide dogs banned from the facilities in town: ”It’s humiliating.”) Dagens Nyheter, 19.05.2014: http://www.dn.se/sthlm/ledarhundar-portas-fran-lokaler-i-stan-det-ar-fornedrande/ ; Tv4 Nyheterna, Tufft för synskadade med ledarhund (It’s hard for visually impaired people with guide dogs), 26.03.2014 http://www.tv4.se/nyheterna/klipp/tufft-f%C3%B6r-synskadade-med-ledarhund-2585108 Accessed 21.09.2014

  11. Synskadades Riksförbund Överenskommelse angående allergiker och synskadede: http://www.srf.nu/vad-gor-srf-for-mig/ledarhundar/allergiker/ Accessed 21.09.2014

  12. However, it has been noted that the same does not necessarily hold for working animals (guarding, hunting dogs) (Berglund 2014: 546).

  13. Although the umwelt of a pet is in any case already shaped by humans and hence, at least implicitly, the dog has to attend to human meanings as well.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank all the guide dog users who contributed to this study. This research was supported by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence CECT, Estonia), the Norway Financial Mechanism 2009–2014 under project contract no EMP151 and by research grant IUT2-44.

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  1. Department of Semiotics, University of Tartu, Jakobi 2, Tartu, Estonia

    Riin Magnus

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Correspondence to Riin Magnus.

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36 interviews with guide-dog users. Digital sound files, transcripts. Author’s archive, 432 p

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Magnus, R. The Semiotic Challenges of Guide Dog Teams: the Experiences of German, Estonian and Swedish Guide Dog Users. Biosemiotics 9, 267–285 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12304-015-9233-4

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