[nabs-l] a not so brief story on dog training: your thoughts?

[Antonio Guimaraes]

Valerie,

I was captivated by your description of training zion.

There isn’t much I’d ask for you to add to, and I wish you all the success in training your dog.

I am not sure most blind people who think they can, ad do war to train guide dogs have your background, and understanding of animal behavior and psychology. It would take a resourceful, keenly aware and tuned in blind person to train a guide. It takes a keenly aware person of any kind to train a guide, bt a blind person must think harder about safe situations and techniques to teach a dog things like stoping at curbs.

You for instance knew what your dog expects of you, and how you expect it to behave. I would not personally advocate or accept blind people as guide trainers if they could not demonstrate they have this type of knowledge. I don’t say this for any reason other than to be open and honest in sharing my point of view.

Maybe the way a blind person can work training guide dogs is to get good dog training under their belt outside of any blind-related program. Nothing keeps a blind person from learning dog training the same way a sighted trainer learns the trade, except for the common prejudices we face all the time. So, if the next blind trainer could find a program that would accept her, train her, and certify her, she’d be on her way to working training your every day run of the mill dog. You know, the mainstream kind. Guide dogs aren’t especially brilliant or extraordinary, just specialized in their training.

The dog trainer could then work with a guide dog school in a support position, trainer’s assistant role, if such a thing exists. The school would need to be supportive and open to giving the blind trainer an The opportunity to move up, and into her desired position of dog trainer, with full responsibilities of training students in the regular class setting.

This is all easier said than done, and if you were to take steps like these, schools would likely have their guard up about you. You or another aspiring blind guide dog trainer would need a plan B ready if the self-guided independent training track didn’t work to attract an open-minded school.

Heck, I don’t know why a blind person couldn’t be hired to visit applicants, take them for Juno walks, and assess them for a guide dog school starting tomorrow!

There is more to in that holding a harness, and teaching correction, but not much more that a savvy dog lover couldn’t learn in time.

It will take great blind trainers and an open mind somewhere so the blind person can at least get a foot in the door.

That is all the brainstorming I have for tonight, and feel free to add 

antonio at accesstoplaces.com

to an email distribution list for your updates.

Maybe a blogging site would work also.

Antonio

On Aug 15, 2014, at 5:39 PM, Valerie Gibson via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> A few years back, I brought up a debatable topic--dog training.
> 
> I tried to apply      for a dog training school and was denied on the basis of blindness.  This sparked a debate of sorts: Can a blind person train a dog?
> I responded to a discussion post about guide dogs and training, and with that in mind, I'd like to reintroduce this topic, and give you a peek into what I've been doing and my accomplishments.  I'd also like to hear your thoughts on the matter, and maybe some of you might have questions, criticisms, or words of caution, all of which are fine.
> I'm also going to talk about why i decided to do what I've been doing.  Understand though that just because I do this does not mean that everyone should. I just thought I'd take this on, and it's working. I pray it stays that way.
> So, dog truing...
> I've always loved it since I was a kid.  I love learning how animals think and learn.  I love studying animal behavior through written observations and applying ecology, sociology and psychology of animals to this.  
> My outlook on dogs is this: Dogs are not people. They are not furry children. They are beings who speak a different language, share a different culture and have a different mindset that we do.  Dogs don't just need a leader, they want one, and some moore than others.  Even a soft tempered dog will try to take over leadership position if it feels there is no one to guide it. Hard tempered dogs will try more forcefully to take over this spot, because their mothers or other "leaders" were made of sterner stuff.
> I don't want to bore you with a dog training guide, but that's just the tip of the ice burg for my philosophy.
> Last december, I purchased a seven and a half week old akita puppy in the hopes that I could train it as a guide dog.  I have my reasons for wanting the akita.
> The easiest way to get a guide dog would obviously be going to a school.
> Let me say first that I am, in no way, opposed to guide dog schools.  Having never been to one, I can not make a judgement call on their training methods, but given that there are many schools, there are probably just as many training methods for their dogs.  
> I didn't, not, go with a school because I wanted to go rogue and didn't want to follow their rules, though I think some of the rules (from what i've heard) are unnecessary.  
> I think guide dog schools are great for people who are taking on a dog for the first time or for people who just don't want to put in the time and effort in training their dogs to guide, or for people who simply don't know how.  I applaud guide dog trainers for their work in training tens of dogs at a time to go with handlers who have various life styles.  
> So if training a guide dog would be harder, take up more time, and cost more money than just getting one from a school, why not get one from a school?
> First I understand dog psychology and how to train a dog.  Every trainer has their own philosophy, so mine might be different from your's for example.  I also wanted to see if I could do it. If Zion did not become a guide dog, no big deal. At least he would be a very well behaved house pet.  So I wasn't hell bent on this dog becoming a guide dog.  
> So a week before christmas, I brought home this akita puppy.  I made sure that the breeder gave me one with the temperament that I was wanting rather than it's appearance. 
> Zion's training began the moment I brought him home with crate training and overall good house manners.  He never got any extra privileges until he'd proven to respond favorable to the ones he had.  For example, he stayed in his crate unless he was playing or training. Never did he get to run around the house.  Every three hours, even if he was sleeping, he was made to take a potty break.  This often meant me setting an alarm to make sure that I got up.  It's a good thing I was on christmas break from school. :)
> Once he let me know when he had to go out, and as he grew, his potty breaks were at longer intervals.  Once he could entertain himself in his kennel, he was allowed to entertain himself in one room of my house, and for only half an hour.  
> Slowly he got more and more privileges.  When he was a puppy and hardly had any rights in the home, I would let anyone pet him when we were in public.
> What you have to understand is that akitas are very hard to train. They an be trained, and yes, labs and goldens and german shepherds are easier, but I knew what I was dealing with when I took on an akita.  I believe in trainability, they rank number 48. They learn slower than a lab or retriever, and if not handled correctly, they can be aggressive to other dogs and people. They have a natural instinct to guard and protect and often times, they have a mind of their own.  Training an akita is very different than training a lab or retriever.
> Akitas also reach physical and psychological maturation a year or so later than a lab or retriever.  
> When I started training Zion, i got a lot of frowns (and I'm sure some eye rolling) from both blind and sighted people.  
> A lady who worked at Zion's puppy obedience class and is also a former trainer from a guide dog school that shall remain nameless, would often say to me (after Zion was being really stubborn), "See why it takes a specialized team to train guide dogs?" Even the trainers who were on board with my training him as a potential guide dog would all of a sudden have their doubts after speaking with this lady.
> This was very disheartening.  I wasn't discouraged at my dog's behavior, but at the lack of support I was getting.  I'd taken him to the class to get back in the groove of training and to speak with fellow trainers.  I guess, for some reason, I was amazed at a sighted trainer who trains dogs for blind people be discouraging to a blind person in training her own dog.  The funny thing was, when she made that comment, we weren't even training guide work. It was simple obedience.  
> I stopped going to that class. By that time, I'd gotten down the basics and was going to teach my dog on my own.  
> Zion went with me almost everywhere, and he hung out almost entirely with guide dogs.  I used a dog that I'd previously trained to teach him commands, because it was a very quick way for him to learn.  He learned a lot from the guide dogs too.  When he was three months, he was potty trained, and he could lie under tables at restaurants and not be a bother (though I'm sure the fellow dogs under the table with him would disagree.).
> Allow me to take a quick detour in the writing.
> There's a lot of hype about people taking their pets, buying a "service dog in training" patch and some "documentation", and claiming their dog's a service dog.  This royally ticks me off, probably more than i t would for you who has a guide dog.
> It gives people like me a bad name because I've got about just as much resource to back it up as they do, with the addition that my dog speaks for himself.  For another, I've put a lot of time into this dog's training. For another, this dog has cost me roughly 3 thousand dollars right now, and he's only mine months, and that's not including the medical issues we've been battling.  I completely understand and agree with service dog trainer's feelings when it comes to this issue because I know they're putting more money and work into the dogs than I am.
> I've heard that soon businesses will have a legal right to see documentation on service animals, and I agree with this. 
> Now that that is said, I took zion almost everywhere with me.  As his restrictions got less and less at hime, they got stricter in public.  Now, people had to ask me to pet him, and they could only do so if he sat down politely.  
> When he was about seven months, he began to wear a harness with "service dog in training" patches on each side of it.  By this time, he was used to going places with me, and he knew what I expected out of him.  Did that mean that he did not test me? Absolutely not!
> He wore the harness at first to get used to the feel of it, but he was still walked on leash.  At night, when no one was around, i walked him up and down the corridors of my apartment to teach him what it would feel like for someone to be holding onto the harness.  Luckily the apartment has pretty distinct left and right turns, and even at nine months, we're still working on those.  
> The first break through for me came on August second.  I'd let him guide me before to the train station or to the front office, but I always had my cane out.  This time, I was not going to use my cane at all.  
> Dangerous? sure, but if i didn't give him, and myself, a test, how would I know what he'd learned.
> Apart from getting distracted a few times, he led me to the train, guiding me around planters and pausing at stairs.
> I knew that this didn't mean that he could guide me anywhere. It just meant he had the idea of what he was supposed to do.  
> If things are too distracting for him, I'd never let him do that, but if I feel that he can work and there are not too many distractions, I will trust him to guide me.  I will never put him in a situation where he would fail as a guide because he is still in the learning and correcting phase.
> That's another thing. Having never had a guide dog before, it was my responsibility to have trust in my training and in him, and that was a big step for me too.  
> Since then, zion has guided me to the front office, to the train, to walmart, to petco and back to my apartment.  These are places that I know really well, so it's easy for me to correct him when I know he's made a wrong turn or is distracted.  Zion can find petco better than I can with a cane. Imagine that. :)
> At some point soon, I am hoping to get certified with the association of professional dog Trainers so that I can train other people dogs and maybe see if the NFB can't have a national  association of blind dog trainers. :)
> This certification would also give me some credibility in the work that he will be doing.  Right now, it's very difficult to find a trainer who will back you if you're a blind person training your own dog.  Throw on a "service dog" title, and it's almost impossible.The only thing that I would not train when it comes to dogs is dogs with aggression issues.  I think that this is where a blind person must draw the line.  Dogs communicate through body language, and it's easy to tell what body language the dog is giving off but with aggression, you need to know, and you can't afford to make a wrong move.  One could argue that a growl is a sign of aggression, but that's not always the case, and if it is, the dog has given off a few body signals before the growl that a trainer must notice.  You never want to get to a point where your dog feels the need to growl because that's usually the last signal it will give before snapping.  
> I'd be interested to hear any feedback from dog lovers.  If anyone has any questions, I'd be eager to try and answer them, but I i do not have all the answers.  Zion's training is no where near finished, but even sighted people tell me: "he's come a long way as a puppy."  I once was told by someone that they had reservations that I was really training him as a guide dog, but they can see thahaht he would make a good guide dog.  
> If anyone has trained their own guide dog, please email me. I'd love to hear of your experiences, and throw around some ideas on how best to train.
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope it was enlightening and not too boring. :)
> 
> If you want me to keep you posted on Zion's training, I can do that.  
> 
> Everyone have a good rest of the day and good luck in school next semester. :)
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