[nagdu] Where's your leash?

[Ann Edie]

Hi, All,

That story reminds me of when I was at TSE getting my first guide.  My 
roommate's dog, a tall German shepherd, slipped out of the room when someone 
opened the door, and he went running through the building, tearing up and 
down the hallways, just having a grand lark, until he was finally captured!

My own dog, who was, by the way, a chocolate Lab, was very mellow and stayed 
close to me at all times.  Of course, I still made sure that I had his leash 
attached to some part of my body at all times, and that he was in contact 
with some part of my body also, usually with his head resting on my feet. 
He was so calm and well-behaved that we used to joke that he was actually a 
ten-year-old dog whose gray muzzle had been masked with brown shoe polish. 
We figured that he had been a drug squad dog, and that now he was in the 
witness protection program and was assuming a second identity as a guide 
dog.  He was a great dog, very mature for his 21 months of age.

Another incident that occurred during my class serves as a reminder of 
another famous trainerism.  One evening during a lecture, when all the 
students and dogs were gathered in one of the lounges, one of the dogs 
quietly got up and wandered across the room to go socialize with another 
dog.  When the handler realized that his dog was gone--I think the 
instructor had to inform him of this--he spluttered out the dog's name 
several times, with ever-increasing desparation in his voice, hoping that 
this would bring the dog back to him.

The handler was dismayed when this did not produce any noticeable effect on 
his errant dog.  After a dramatic pause, during which I'm sure the handler 
saw his life pass before his eyes, the instructor said quietly, "You might 
try 'Come.'"  And sure enough, when the handler said the dog's name again 
followed by the magic word "Come", the dog went right back to him.

This was an excellent demonstration to all of us of the usefulness of using 
those command words to let our dogs know what we wanted them to do.  For the 
rest of that class, when anyone got flustered and forgot to correctly cue 
their dog, and wondered why they got no response, the phrase, "You might try 
'Come,'" would immediately bring them back to earth.

Best,
Ann

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Charlene Ota" <caota at hawaii.rr.com>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 10:45 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Where's your leash?


> Gee, when I was at Seeing Eye, my fourth dog, mind you, a shepherd didn't
> need any coaxing, he snuck away from me I think twice and did it so
> stealthily I never knew, and went back to his trainer, good old Lucas 
> Frank.
> It sure taught me in a hurry to keep track of my dog!
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Jenine Stanley
> Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 2:04 PM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: [nagdu] Where's your leash?
>
> OK, this is one of those stories old fart guide dog handlers tell about 
> the
> bad old days.
>
> My first class, at Pilot and then again first class at GDF featured
> instructors who were vicious about you knowing where your dog was, and 
> hence
> where your leash was. Before we got the dogs, at Pilot anyway, we had to
> carry our leashes around with us and keep track of them. There are a 
> couple
> trainers at Pilot who can sneak a leash and/or dog away from you without a
> sound or touch. It's scary. I've also watched while one of them coaxed a
> fellow student's large female Dobe out from under his chair while he
> snoozed. That dog  crept out without touching his legs and crawled along 
> the
> floor.
>
> If you forgot your leash or if you were unlucky enough to have it sneaked
> away, you owed a nickel. Fines went up as time went on. There were also
> fines for missing dogs during that first class. I think only one person 
> had
> his dog spirited away.
>
> What this taught us was that you pay attention to where your dog and leash
> are at all times. Now this did get a little out of control with some 
> fairly
> humiliating exchanges and tears from one person which were totally
> unnecessary.
>
> At GDf it was a little tamer, no fines and no pushing it to the 
> humiliation
> level, but you'd still better be aware of that leash and dog, lest they
> suddenly be gone.
>
> I've heard over the years of things like this rigid teaching of dog
> awareness going too far and becoming spiteful nasty ways for trainers at
> some schools to tease people. That said, I'll put on my old fart hat and 
> say
> I'm glad it was drilled into me when it was and I think a little more of
> that kind of dog awareness emphasis would not hurt people.
>
> Jenine Stanley
> jeninems at wowway.com
>
>
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