[nagdu] ranting handling skills?

[Julie J]

Jodie,

It's just where the dog touches your hand with his nose.  Some people use a 
closed fist.  I use two fingers, like I'm pointing with them.

I use this skill in three main ways: as a very simple task to regain focus, 
to get him positioned and as a fun way to get some exercise during the long, 
boring winter months.

HTH
Julie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jodie and Xandir" <pisces at asmodean.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, August 02, 2010 8:40 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] ranting handling skills?


> Good morning! Julie, what's a hand target? I've never heard that term
> before.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Julie J
> Sent: Monday, August 02, 2010 9:24 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] ranting handling skills?
>
> Lora,
>
> Firstly I don't think there is anything wrong with your handling skills. 
> I
> can totally understand why you might feel that way though, given your bad
> luck with previous dogs.  It takes time to really settle in, just keep 
> with
> it.
>
> Monty has been a struggle with dog distractions.  When he was a puppy he
> used to bounce up and down and make the most pitiful noises because I
> wouldn't let him play with every dog on the street.  Yeah, really not 
> good.
> Now I can only tell he sees another dog by the way his body shifts and he
> gets intently focused on something.  As you work with Kori longer you will
> be able to pick up on the more subtle signs that he sees another dog.
>
> In the beginning of working through dog distraction insanity, I would stop
> at the first signs that things were amiss.  Sometimes this meant turning
> around and walking a different way, sometimes walking up a driveway to let
> the other dog pass or turning and facing away from the other dog worked. 
> It
>
> would just depend on the particulars of the situation. After getting some
> distance between us I would get Monty to do something easy that he could 
> be
> successful with.  I kept this up until he was settled and focused again.
>
> As time went on the distance to the other dog got shorter and shorter and
> the level of the reaction lessened.  He has been working as a fully 
> trained
> guide for about 9 months now.  He has had a couple of slip ups where he 
> was
> inappropriately interested in other dogs, but generally if I sense he is
> about to do something stupid, which isn't often, I stop, pivot 180 degrees
> and ask him to do something else.  Generally the something else is sit, 
> down
>
> and a hand target.  I only ask him to do something that I know he will be
> able to do so that I can praise him for the good behavior.  By turning my
> body away from the other dog I am breaking his attention to that dog.  The
> incompatible behaviors allow him to regain focus on me and for him to be
> successful.
>
> As time goes on his interest in other dogs continues to lessen.  It is
> pretty rare that I have to do much more than verbally coach him past other
> dogs these days.   And now that I've said that he'll prove me wrong. 
> *smile*
>
> It takes time, patience and consistency.  It might also help to jot down
> notes each day about how he did.  Then it's a lot easier to see the 
> progress
>
> you are making.
>
> HTH
> Julie
>
>
>
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