[nagdu] statement re: ownership and qeustions re: schools policies

[Merry Schoch]

I certainly appreciate everyone's input.  I have had two dogs that I've 
worked and neither had clicker training.  I had great success with their 
work in new places, and the three quarter praise, one quarter correction 
seemed to be the key to our success.

Thanks to all for sharing your experiences with me.  I will have to talk 
openly with the school I ultimately decide to get a dog from and be as 
percise as I can as to what I am looking for.

Thanks again,
Merry


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wayne Merritt" <wcmerritt at gmail.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 2:05 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] statement re: ownership and qeustions re: schools 
policies


> When at The Seeign Eye last September, they said that all of the dogs
> had been introduced to clicker training at one time, but that it was
> probably something that most students would never use. They said we
> could use it of course, but that most people wouldn't. I think that
> this is because clicker training, from what I've heard and from their
> description of it, is so involved in that you have to click and treat
> at the exact instance that the dog does the desired behavior. So
> anyway, as far as clicker training goes, they left it up to us. I
> don't see a need for it myself since my Shepherd, Gucci, seems to pick
> up on things very quickly, even if its her first time in a new
> environment.
>
> I'd encourage you not to marka  school like The Seeign Eye off your
> list just because they may use both food and clicker training. They're
> still a good school, in that they take the time to work with you as an
> individual. If you don't want to food reward your dog, they'll support
> your decision and continue to help you build that working
> relationship.
>
> Jmt,
> Wayne
>
> Wayne
>
> On 2/28/09, Angie Matney <leadinglabbie at mpmail.net> wrote:
>> Hi Merry,
>>
>> Jenine's description of food at GDF sounds like what I experienced at 
>> Seeing
>> Eye a little over a year ago. At least one person in my class was trained 
>> to
>> give food rewards in certain instances. I was not, and it was not a part 
>> of
>> over-all class training.
>>
>> Angie with Yani
>>
>> On Sat, 28 Feb 2009 09:19:02 -0500, Jenine Stanley wrote:
>>
>>>Merry,
>>
>>>I can answer the GDf food question for you.
>>
>>>We do not use food in most training situations, i.e., daily class work. 
>>>We
>>>do introduce the use of food for solving problems or teaching certain
>>>behaviors, along with how not to use food and the fact that food should 
>>>be
>>>tapered off in favor of praise.
>>
>>>Some instructors may, with some teams, use food or even introduce the
>>>clicker, for specific issues, but it's not part of overall class 
>>>training.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
> -- 
> My blog:
> http://wayneism.blogspot.com
> My websites:
> www.wayneism.com
> www.whitecaneday.org
>
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