Re: starting out with a guidedog.
Leaving the dog on their own seems to be something that varies from dog to dog and between trainers, I was specifically told it's a good idea to give them some practice just in case it ever becomes necessary.
Some people do think of their dog as just a mobility aid indeed, but that isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world so long as it isn't taken to an extreme like with shutting them in the kitchen. Would you be comfortable with letting them share your house or flat relatively freely? Beyond that the care is mostly feeding and watering them once or twice a day depending on the dog, giving them a brush at least every other day or preferably every day, toileting them every 4 or 5 hours during the day time and needing to hoover more often than normal. Depending on the dog one run a week normally suffices, depending on your sight level you may need sighted assistance for this for example if you wouldn't be able to tell where the dog has gone to the toi let to pick it up while they're running around a field or some such. Playing is a good bonding experience for the dog but again this depends on the dog's personality and how playful they are.
Do you find yourself often getting your cane tangled up in obstacles like drain pipes, advertising boards and bike racks? If there's enough room a guide dog should take you around these, and generally mean you don't need to bump into things to find them. They can often dodge people too though that can be tricky because people do stupid things like suddenly moving in an unhelpful way, or in Kirk's case he decides they should move out of his way instead sometimes, he does get a bit of a big head on occasion. As Dark says guide dogs aren't for everyone and if you decide not to go for a dog that's fine, I just haven't heard anything here that would be a definitive reason not to have one.
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