[nagdu] How to encourage dog initiative

Tamara Smith-Kinney tamara.8024 at comcast.net
Wed Feb 17 20:54:54 UTC 2010


Joy,

Yeah, it's finding that balance that I will probably always have to watch
myself on.  As Mitzi leaves her juvenile nonsense more and more behind, it
is much easier for me to trust her and be guided without having to coach
myself, but I still find myself lecturing me in my mind as we go along.
/smile/

I am so sorry about Belle.  *Hugs*

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Joy Relton
Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 10:19 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Subject: Re: [nagdu] How to encourage dog initiative

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



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