[nagdu] Toys and Words

Tue Sep 15 20:56:06 UTC 2009

Good questions.  As for toys, they can be a useful tool to teach your dog
when to chase stuff and when not to.  So I put Mitzi's favorite ball in my
bag, put her harness on, and she guides me to the playground.  Then I take
off her harness, bring out the ball and the games begin.  When it's time to
go home, I do a "swap" of a treat for the toy, then put her harness on and
remind her that she's working again, not playing.  So no ball.  I can use
the ball on the way home or just out of the park to reinforce that when she
is in harness, it is irrelevant.  Does that make any sense?  In her younger
days, of course, I viewed any distraction as a "trianing opportunity."
/smile/  So now she knows when to be distractable and when not.  Except for
special occasions, of course. /grin/

As for words...  Clear, one-word commands are great for guide work, because
we use so many of them to direct our dogs.  Sometimes I even remember to use
them. /smile/  Mitzi has the vaunted poodle word recognition, so I find
myself conversing with her.She responds as readily to a muttered "Where's
the ...?" as she does to a find command.  I'm usually asking myself, not
her, but the result is the same.  The problem with that is that if there's
somebody nearby, they will also answer.  So Mitzi has had ample opportunity
to demonstrate an ability to follow complex verbal instructions to a
surprising degree.  She has picked up an astonishing number of word/object
connections from my asking (on purpose) people where things are.

So I've been watching that sort of thing more with other dogs that we
interact with regularly, and I've heard of some recent studies that show
that, while dogs don't have the physical equipment to form speech and thus
don't possess the brain structures to go with them, they do have the mental
equipment to process human speech to a far greater extent than we've every
thought possible.  Around here, we talk to our dogs like they're people,
even saying please and thank you, so they respond to all sorts of verbal
utterances in which an actuall command might be embedded. /smile/  So last
night, I asked them if they would like to settle now while they were playing
a very loud game, and they did.  Whether they were responding to word or
tone, I can't tell you.  Daisy's dad had told them to be quiet, shut up,
knock that off, etc., several times, then finally gotten involved in the
game himself by singing back to Daisy hound while I was doubled over in
laughter, gasping "quiet" between guffaws.  Then our show came back on, so
we each gave our version of "it's time to be quiet now" and they settled
down...  Very strange, but there it is.  It's been very interesting with
Daisy, since she was 6 when Mitzi and I moved in, and still pretty messed
up, since people would come around when her dad wasn't home and screw with
her in the name of play.  When they weren't around, she and her dad
maintained a fairly quet, calm relationship, but her anxiety issues could
get in the way.  So, after some consultation with him, we made some changes
in the environment and I started using operant condition and clicker and
treats to begin to modify her behavior, as well as lots of snuggles and
touch therapy and the like to build trust and...  Well, it was a long and
tricky process, but as we got the anxiety down, it became really obvious
that Daisy, too, shows a fairly complex connection of words with objects and
ideas.  She learned a lot from Mitz, of course, but considering the extent
to which we were teaching the crazy old dog some very new tricks, she has
been pretty amazing.  One of our play buddies is a bilingual pug, and I've
known a couple of other bilingual dogs.  The pug also follows Mitzi's
command set from me when they're off-leash, probably because she knows she
will get a treat as readily as Mitzi. /smile/

All of which goes to say that if the dog demonstrates that it knows what you
mean by responding in the correct way, it doesn't really matter how you
phrased it or in what tone.  IMO, anyway. /smile/  In early training, that's
different, of course.  But once the dog makes the mental connection that
words mean things, they can get to bepretty people smart.  They also pick up
a lot from body language, gesture and context, of course, and there are
those who believe the gesture is more important than the word, and they may
be right.  Who knows what's really going on in those doggy brains? /smile/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Nicole B. Torcolini
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 9:06 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: [nagdu] Toys and Words

	I have two questions on which I would like people's opinions.  Maybe
these should be in separate emails, so feel free to change the subject line.
Balls and Frisbees: GDB told us not to play with our dogs with balls or
Frisbees as they could potentially become so used to playing with them that
they decide to go chase one while working.

Words: Some of the people who help me with Lexia slur their words together
and/or use long sentences with her.  GDB told us to be short and clear.
Some examples of what people say are "come here" (except all strung
together), "turn around", and "get on your blanket" instead of "blanket."
What do people think of this?

Nicole

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