[nagdu] walk by petting was ranting

[The Pawpower Pack]

Mardi,

I am profoundly deaf, in both ears.  I also used to use a halti on my  
dogs, but I don't find that I need one with Laveau my Doberman.  Her  
long skinny Dobe neck allows me to feel what she's doing much better.

Because I'm deafblind I have no idea when people are petting my dog or  
making sounds to distract her.  When she was in training, I took steps  
to address these issues.  I did this by setting up drive by petting  
situations with volunteers.

At first the person would tell me when they were about to pet and when  
they started, I asked Laveau for a touch on my knee.  I rewarded her  
very highly with stinky treats, given rapidly and plentifully.   
Eventually we moved up to volunteers petting without telling me and  
Laveau would turn to put her nose on my knee and I still rewarded this  
behavior very highly.  Now the cue for a nose knee touch is drive by  
petting.  Not only does this keep her from interacting with the  
person, but it keeps the person from having a positive experience.   
People pet because they want interaction with the dog.  If the dog  
turns away and ignores the petter, it's much less satisfying for them.

I still keep this behavior on a very high rate of reinforcement.  I  
want my dog to always know that better things will come if she ignores  
the person.

Also she's a Doberman, which is a very one person type breed.  She  
really doesn't care what anyone else is doing as long as I'm with her.

Good luck and I'm sorry you're having such  trouble.

Rox and the Kitchen Bitches
Bristol (retired), Mill'E SD. and Laveau Guide Dog, CGC.
"Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you  
earn it and win it in every generation."
-- Coretta Scott King
pawpower4me at gmail.com

Windows Live Only: Brisomania at hotmail.com
AIM: Brissysgirl Yahoo: lillebriss