I have been fused from my skull to c4, which makes it difficult/impossible to turn my head.
I am getting a 2yo Golden Retriever in two weeks, that I will train myself with the help of a trainer that has trained service dogs.

I will want the dog to do this(in addition to other tasks) to watch for me, to make sure that I am not walking out into traffic, into someone else's way in the store, that kind of thing.

Does this make sense?

Thanks all!

Sounds good to me... did it work out for you?

Dogs can sometimes be able to make sure cars aren't coming but aren't always able to judge is there is enough space to make it for a oncoming car. They can't be expected to be 100% reliable on this. However you can teach them to stop at every crosswalk and street corner and not proceed uness you give a command. Some dogs can be taught to stop and not proceed when a car is coming but I would put 100% trust in them. It really tasks a special observant dog to do this.

Hi:

Our SD is trained to make sure we only proceed when it is safe to do so. Brighthorizondogs is correct that one can never be 100% certain that the dog won't be distracted or may misinterpret the situation. Our dog, depending on how I'm managing, sits down prior to approaching a curb/corner, or when there is active traffic ... she stays sitting until we tell her it's "OK" or "Walk On" ... that way she's sure we're paying attention and are focused enough to proceed. So, she's not actually assessing whether it's safe for us to proceed, she's waiting to see if we're focused enough and paying attention to proceed safely before she will stand and walk with us again. Guide dogs for the Blind are actually trained in a similar fashion. They stop at all curbs/corners, block the path of their partner from walking forward and then wait for the cue from their partner to proceed. The individual partnered with the dog, listens for traffic sounds and other cues to assess if it's safe to move forward. The only time the dog will prevent them from walking into an intersection is if they see on coming traffic. The dog then refuses to allow them to move forward. At that point their partner has to reassess the situation based on the dogs reaction. It's still the responsibility of the human partner to make the final decision though.

Now the dogs can be taught to distinguish right and left ... so you might be able to train the dog to "look right", "look left", just to make sure the dog is paying attention and not distracted ... then cue the dog to proceed, if they have seen moving traffic in either direction they could be trained not to move until you give the final go ahead command. Again, the final responsibility to proceed would be with the human partner.

Hope that is of some help. Take care & be safe: Kefrin & Bailey