[nagdu] owner training and pulls

Julie J julielj at windstream.net
Wed Aug 4 19:54:42 UTC 2010


Jordan,

I really have no idea about question #1.  They have all just pulled in 
harness, and a lot.  I can't remember teaching them I wanted them to pull, 
just a lot of work on moderating that pull to something manageable.

Dogs are hardwired to pull against resistance.  that's why most dog trainers 
will tell you in order to teach the dog not to pull on leash, you have to 
stop pulling on the leash to get them to stop.   My personal method is to 
just turn and go a different direction.  Yet another reason why I start in 
my front yard.  I get pretty dizzy the first few sessions! *smile*

As for question #2, why I decided to owner train in the first place...I had 
been training dogs since high school for obedience, flyball and agility. 
I've always had dogs and my first guide was more of an experiment just to 
see if I could do it.

Also I have to admit that at that time my thoughts about guide dog schools 
weren't very positive.  Not having a ton of information I sorta lumped them 
all together and assumed that what went on at one was par for the course.  I 
had heard countless horror stories of canes being taken away, not being 
allowed to leave and trainers with poor attitudes of blind people. I didn't 
know very many blind people with guide dogs.  The one I knew the most from 
college had a horrible dog that constantly ran him into things.  It was 
pretty awful.

I know I've stated other reasons in the past and those are true too.  I'm 
just not remembering them at the moment.  Mainly though, it looked like 
something that I could do and that would be fun.   It turned out that I was 
right I could do it and the rewards were well beyond fun.

Julie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jordan Frances Ortiz" <ortizj32 at students.rowan.edu>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2010 12:44 PM
Subject: [nagdu] owner training and pulls


> Hey Julie:
>
> I was reading your email on how you train your puppy and work a guide at 
> the same time, and I'm actually really interested in this process.  With 
> the Seeing Eye puppies we have to keep a pull in the leash constantly so 
> they can go into harness once back at the school.  This is where I run 
> into the problem of working Viola and handling a puppy at the same time. 
> If they are both pulling in my left hand Viola can't work and we'd 
> probably never make it anywhere hahaha.  My question is how do you teach 
> the puppy how to pull in harness when its time?  The only way I can walk 2 
> dogs together is to make Viola heal and have the puppy lull.
> my second question for all onwer trainers.  What made you decide to train 
> your own?  How did you decide what kind of dog you wanted?  Sorry 2 
> questions.
>
> Jordan and viola
>
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