[nagdu] speaking too soon

Tamara Smith-Kinney tamara.8024 at comcast.net
Mon Nov 16 17:28:12 UTC 2009


Yeah, that's thing about other people's good ideas, isn't it?  /grin/

Well, I thought I would suggest it.  I happened to have the time and
circumstances to do things that way, since I was having a lull in my real
life and needed to be out and about walking for physical therapy anyway.

Keep up the good work!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Lora
Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 12:47 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] speaking too soon

Tami this would be a good idea if I didn't have to go down these streets to
school and if I didn't have to ride the bus everyday.

On Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 10:45 AM, Tamara Smith-Kinney <
tamara.8024 at comcast.net> wrote:

> Lora,
>
> Yeah, it's amazing to me, too. /smile/
>
> Mitzi was a country poodle before she came to me, so pretty much
everything
> about the big city was really scary.  Poor kid!  I did have to do a bit of
> immersion right at first, because I had to take her to the vet and I
needed
> to take her to the pet store to get some fitted stuff for her.  She was
> clearly overwhelmed, but I was impressed with her courage!  Immersion is
> when you simply throw the dog into a situation all at once so that it has
> to
> deal.  There are times this is a valid method, but it's a lot to heap on a
> nervous younster.
>
> What I did with Mitzi, once we got the well puppy check and shopping out
of
> the way, was to take her on short, easy walks where she would be exposed
to
> all that scary stuff again, only now I could start working with her to
> teach
> her that it isn't scary at all!  Not only is it not scary, but when she
> grew
> up, she would be the mistress of it, using it as her stage to show off her
> mighty talents!  Okay, so I got a little carried away with the
> affirmations,
> but I guess every little bit helps.
>
> So...  What I did with traffic was this.  I took her out on the sidewalk
to
> watch while I talked to her about it all.  At the time I was just talking
> so
> she could hear the confidence and reassurance in my voice; I figured I
> might
> as well talk about what was going on right then and move a step or two
> ahead
> to refine my strategy for my own benefit...  This was back when I believed
> all those wild claims about poodle verbal intelligence were just crazy
> talk.
> /grin/
>
> Anyway, that day we went on to a nice "sniff and stroll" around the
> sparsely
> trafficked sides of the block then came home and played and cuddled.
>
> The fourth side of our block then is a major thoroughfare, so we could
hear
> it from our front stoop.  We spent some time every day sitting out there
> while I talked to her about what we heard going on around us.  Then I took
> her down to the corner so she could watch while I talked it about it some
> more.
>
> >From there, we moved on to the stoplight a block or two away and just
sort
> of hung out while I talked to her and petted her and did some calming
touch
> and holds when she started to get too wound up.
>
> Next step was to cross the street with the light, at a time that there
> wasn't too much traffic.  Then we did some relaxing sniff and stroll
before
> we crossed back over.
>
> And so on.  There's a name for the technique I cannot remember off hand.
> But it involves providing gradual exposure to the object of fear without
> pushing the subject past the edge of their comfort zone.  It's a technique
> used in the treatment of phobias in humans, so you could find some pretty
> good reference material on the subject, what with all the spare time you
> have and all.  Teasing!  I know you're too busy for all of this, really.
> /smile/
>
> The method would probably work well with Trice.  The key is to observe the
> dog's reactions closely so that you don't give him more than he's ready
> for.
> This helps to refine your understanding of the exact nature and cause of
> the
> dog's fears, as well; and it can give you clues to use in finding a way to
> ease them as you progress.  Talking my own ear off seemed to work well
with
> Mitzi, so...
>
> HTH
>
> Tami Smith-Kinney
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
>  Of Lora
> Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:17 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] speaking too soon
>
> It does make sense. All the dogs that I know can handle working all day
and
> then playing in the evening. I have tried that with Trice and he obviously
> needs more play time. Hopefully I can figure that balance out. OT do you
> know how to get  him not scared of traffic? To me I am amazed that the
> school graduated a dog who was scared of traffic and am Trying to work on
> that.
>
> On Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 3:33 PM, Tamara Smith-Kinney <
> tamara.8024 at comcast.net
> > wrote:
>
> > AnnaLisa,
> >
> > Cool!  You nailed exactly what I meant.  /grin/
> >
> > Tami Smith-Kinney
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf
> > Of AnnaLisa Anderson
> > Sent: Saturday, November 07, 2009 10:35 AM
> > To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> > Subject: Re: [nagdu] speaking too soon
> >
> > Hi Lora,
> >
> > I'm not Tami, but I think what she means is that if the dog doesn't get
> > much
> > chance to play, and I mean really play like run around crazy play once
in
> a
> > while, they start to go stir crazy.  It's like they just can't contain
> > themselves anymore and they get all restless or find some trouble to get
> > into.  I know Sunny is that way but especially when she was younger.
She
> > is
> > 7 now and still loves to play, but now play sessions in the house with a
> > kong or a bone seem enough for her most of the time.  Unless it's a
> > gorgeous
> > day like today, then she wants to go across the street to the dog park
in
> > the worst way!  People are amazed that I actually just let Sunny be a
dog
> > once in a while.  They think a guide dog's life is nothing but work all
> the
> > time, 24/7, and I say no, of course it isn't.  So anyway, when Sunny has
> > had
> > a chance to run off some steam, she is much more settled and focused.
As
> > one of the ladies on the LD list likes to say, a tired puppy is a good
> > puppy.
> >
> > AnnaLisa and Sundance
> >
> >
> >
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> --
> Lora and Trice
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-- 
Lora and Trice
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