[nagdu] Things I wanted to discuss, but just didn't have time to

Wed Mar 11 23:00:40 UTC 2009

I know what you mean about keeping up!  Mitzi was such an energetic pup that
I really thought, after the incredible strides in maturity she made between
18 months and twoyears that there could not be a more mellow dog.  /lol/
All of a sudden, I'm noticing the changes in her from last spring to this,
and I realize that I was in total denial back then!

I have been, literally, waiting for years to watch TV with my dog curled
beside me on the couch with her head on my lap.  Then Daisy pushes her off
the couch (or sits on her) to take her place.  Sigh.  So I snuggle with her
and watch my dog snuggle with Daisy's dad in the recliner.  /smile/  At
least we can watch TV (by which I mean nap) without constant agitation from
our dogs.  /smile/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Julie J.
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 5:54 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Things I wanted to discuss, but just didn't have time
to

LOL!  I did things pretty much like you are with my first dog.  Belle and 
Monty have benefited from a much more organized approach, but I still find 
myself adding to their vocabulary.

This winter I have been "accidentally" working on retrieve tasks with Monty.

I just paired the words, get, take, bring and give into our play and 
everyday life.  I made no real effort in teaching this task.   This past 
week there have been several occasions when Monty has followed my retrieve 
directions in a more formal/directed setting.  I think his grasp of the 
concepts is much more than I was giving him credit for.

And most definitely I find myself using more "rustic" terms for some of his 
tasks...for example I use "whoa" instead of stop or halt.  Serves the same 
purpose, but it is the word that comes naturally to mind when I want to 
stop.

I think Monty is on the downhill side of his adolescence.  I am so relieved 
that there seems to be maturity in sight! *smile*   Or at least hope that I 
will be able to keep up with him.

Julie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tamara Smith-Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 12:39 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Things I wanted to discuss, but just didn't have time 
to

> That makes sense.  And I'll have to pay more attention to figure out how 
> she
> tracks...  I laid in the foundation for a lot of that sort of thing while 
> we
> were still doing leash work and socializing, and I viewed that overall
> process as molding more than training as such.  Since my conception of the
> end goal was fairly vague, I also used the time to observe and work out 
> the
> specifics of how we would need to handle specific situations and obstacles
> as a team so that I could build those behaviors.  I did a lot of talking 
> it
> through out loud before I caught on that all that wild and crazy stuff
> people say about poodle language capacity are in fact pretty darn 
> accurate.
> /smile/  So I have some odd commands that I still find myself using 
> because
> I would describe what I wanted to do to myself (and her) before I came up
> with a command for it.  /lol/  It's interesting to come across a new but
> similar scenario and discover that she conceptualizes it completely
> differently than I thought she did.  So I might say "forward left" and get
> nothing, then explain that we want to go around away from the trafiic 
> side,
> and she does her "aha!" thing and does just that.  Strange little dog.
>
> Needless to say, I have learned to think of the command first, then use 
> that
> word for the verb in the logistical discussion.  I had a heck of a time 
> when
> we started going to the park, because part of the way we take a winding
> trail.  It's paved, but since I plan to do trail hiking in the future, I
> wanted to distinguish staying on the trail from our usual citified 
> commands.
> I began to think I would have to drag out a thesaurus to come up with a 
> verb
> for it, since the ones like follow, stay, etc. were already taken.  So we
> walk the trail now.  Or the path, since I keep using that one without
> thinking instead of generalizing any such route as a trail.  I can simply
> use the command "trail" as a reminder once we get going, but when we come
> upon a new trail/path that we need to follow to get back to a sidewalk, I
> still need to say, "Walk the trail."  Or "Okay, Mitzi!  Let's walk the
> trail!"
>
> Hm...  She also knows "sidewalk," "side of the rode," "go to the edge,"
> "find the crosswalk," and a few others I've come up with on the fly. 
> Which
> makes wonder...  My dog appears to conceptualize, generalize and 
> distinguish
> in very much the same quirky way I do.  I - and a few others who mention 
> it
> and crack up about it - have only her behavior and responses to go by, but
> it really does seem like it.  I will never know, but I am really, really
> curious what's really happening in that active, lightening-fast brain of
> hers.  And how it all looks to her.
>
> The next time I train, I am so going to do what you do and come up with a
> command/behavior list first!  /smile/
>
> Tami Smith-Kinney
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Julie J.
> Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 5:34 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Things I wanted to discuss, but just didn't have time
> to
>
> Tracking is the same thing as shorelining or following a line of travel on
> the edge of something, like a curb, hall or change in terrain like grass 
> to
> cement.
>
> Does Mitsy have an easier time following a line of travel on the right vs.
> the left?
>
> I think the main reason that guide dogs work on the left is because most
> people are right handed.   It has been the practice to work dogs of all
> sorts on the left, show dogs, obedience competitions, hunting dogs etc.
> When I was competing in dog sports this is how it was explained to me
> anyhow.
>
> Julie
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tamara Smith-Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 11:32 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Things I wanted to discuss, but just didn't have time
> to
>
>
>> Hmm...
>>
>> This is interesting.  Being left-handed, I figured if everyone else works
>> their dog on the left, leaving their dominant right hand free, I would
>> train
>> my dog to work on the right, leaving my dominant left hand free.  Then
>> someone recently told me she had heard the reason guide dogs worked on 
>> the
>> left was so the handler would not have to drop the harness handle to 
>> shake
>> hands.  Oh!  I wonder if that's it or if people work the dog on the left
>> for
>> the same reasons they shake hands with the right...  That just works best
>> for a predominantly right-handed population.  /smile/
>>
>> Is tracking, the way you guys mean it, something to do with follow?  Or
>> with
>> patterning?  I haven't heard the word used in that context before.  Mitzi
>> knows follow, but I've realized lately she prefers to pattern, and will
>> sometimes be patterning when I think she's following...  Or is it the
>> other
>> way around?  /smile/
>>
>> Living beyond the reliable sidewalk zone, I often wish I had trained her
>> to
>> work on my left, since when we're on the side of the road facing traffic,
>> she's the one closest to it.  Scares me all to pieces.  She does know to
>> stay to the side of the road and not wander across the white line (when
>> there's so much as that between us and traffic).  I don't necessarily
>> trust
>> the oncoming drivers to do so well.  Then again, there's a long stretch
>> where we have to walk with traffic coming up behind us as we walk in the
>> pedestrian lane, which puts me on the traffic side with a whole lot of
>> tension between my shoulder blades.  It would probably be worse if she
>> were
>> on that side going that way....  I'm used to it now and don't get all
>> weirded out just walking up to the store, but every now and then I still
>> think about what we're doing and give myself the hopeless willies!
>>
>> Tami Smith-Kinney
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>> Behalf
>> Of Ron Davidson
>> Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 10:31 AM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Things I wanted to discuss, but just didn't have 
>> time
>> to
>>
>> I never heard of a guide working on the right but I guess it is necessary
>> it
>>
>> the person don't have a good working left arm. Just like they train them
>> to
>> work with wheel chairs. But I do feel the tracking on the left is taught
>> not
>>
>> a natural thing where in the ordinary dogs life do you see them tracking
>> or
>> following specifically on the left.
>>
>>
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