[nagdu] shorelining

[Margo and Elmo]

At the Seeing eye, a cane is used as part of country work and the cane is 
used as an obstacle to keep the dog on course.  It's been a very long since 
I've used the technique so maybe a more recent Seeing Eye grad can explain 
it.  I like using the cane with my dog during country work.

margo and Elmo
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jenine Stanley" <jeninems at wowway.com>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 7:50 PM
Subject: [nagdu] shorelining


> Julie asked about how different programs train for shorelining.
>
> I can tell you what GDF does these days.
>
> There is a lecture about the "straight line" concept which explains how 
> the
> dogs are taught to walk just left of center on a sidewalk. Then, there is
> another short lecture and individual teaching about shorelining or country
> travel.
>
> We always worked a left shoreline on country walks, those without 
> sidewalks.
> GDF does have commands "over left" and "over right" which mean that the 
> dog
> should move over that direction slightly but the command I was taught to 
> use
> when working a road without sidewalks where I need to shoreline was "stay
> left" or "stay right".
>
> They began teaching a right shoreline as a test back in the mid '90's. My
> last two classes, 2005 and 2008, it was part of class.
>
> I find that where I live, due to curving road and poor lines of sight for
> drivers, it's safer to work the right side of several roads. My instructor
> put a lot of work into his dogs doing right shoulder work, as we call it,
> because he said it is the harder of the two shoreline methods to teach and
> reinforce. I have to say that Swap is extremely good at it too.
>
> These shorelining techniques can also be used to navigate parking lots.
>
> I think the country walks, especially during the home training part of my
> recent training with Swap, are the most exhausting for me. In the 
> beginning,
> until you learn the dog's moves and trust him or her to keep that perfect
> alignment with the edge, it takes a lot of monitoring.
>
>
>
> Jenine Stanley
> jeninems at wowway.com
>
>
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