[nagdu] How to encourage dog initiative

[Tracy Carcione]

Yes indeed!  I still hear my first instructor's voice sternly saying
"Follow your dog!"  You'd think I'd have got it by now, but apparently
not.  Good thing I've got that recording in my head to remind me.
Tracy


> Hi Tracy,
>
> You make some good points that I have also experienced. The other thing
> that
> I have found is that sometimes I have been known to push to far forward on
> the dog's side so that he/she isn't really given the full range of
> decisions. That's why I try to play a few sounds tracks in my mind, like,
> "follow the dog" "make sure that there's tension in the harness" and "have
> faith in your dog's abilities as well as your own".  Almost like I can
> hear
> those words being spoken by my instructors in the past. (grin)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Tracy Carcione
> Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 9:15 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] How to encourage dog initiative
>
>
> It's been a while since I've had a new dog, knock wood, but I think that
> what I do to encourage initiative is to encourage the dog to make
> decisions
> when we get into a situation, and show him that I'm willing to go with his
> decisions once he makes one.  At first, this can involve standing
> somewhere
> and saying Hup-up in a cheerful way, and sometimes some gentle handwaving
> to
> suggest possibilities.  I've even found myself giving that wonderfully
> mystic GDF command "Find the Way!" In my experience, this kind of thing
> requires me to work my dog on my own quite a bit.  Standing still and
> waiting for the dog to figure out a challenge seems to drive sighted
> people
> buggy.  Even if I explain before we set out that I am trying to teach the
> dog that he can figure things out without much help, when the situation
> comes up, the sighted person barges ahead saying "Oh come on; this way."
> So, instead of the dog learning that he can make decisions, he learns that
> if he waits, someone will go ahead and he can follow them.  Not the
> conclusion I want.  Someone told me that her dog would look around for a
> sighted person to follow, if the dog felt her person was confused.  That's
> initiative too, but not the kind I want. So, for me, it's really important
> to work with my dog alone in the beginning.  Maybe other people have
> better
> control of their sighted partners than I do, but for me they can be quite
> a
> hindrance to team-building.
>
> In the beginning, and not much after either, I wouldn't expect the dog to
> figure things out if I was facing the whole wrong way or something. An
> experienced dog can sometimes figure that out, but really it's my job to
> at
> least aim in the generally right direction. Although once, at a state
> convention banquet, I had to step out, and I pointed the way I thought we
> should go and told Echo "Outside!"  She led me the other way than I
> pointed,
> around the table and to a clear aisle, and then took me to the door.  I
> was
> very impressed.  Just like in the Seeing Eye dog books!
>
> I may have messed up Ben's initiative a bit by not trusting his decisions.
> It's hard for me to tell when he's going around something and when he's
> going to sniff something, especially in suburbia, where the work is less
> challenging and he gets more distracted. Luckily, Ben has lots of
> confidence
> and initiative, so I haven't made a complete hash of things. Tracy
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nagdu:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/jrelton%40verizon.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nagdu:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/carcione%40access.net
>