[nagdu] Dogs VS. Horses

Steven Johnson blinddog3 at charter.net
Tue Aug 16 02:06:55 UTC 2011


That is so awesome...it makes me smile!  Thanks again for sharing your guide
horse experiences with us.

Steve



-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Ann Edie
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 9:02 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Dogs VS. Horses

Hi, Steve,

Yes, Panda does whinny, mostly to greet me when I first come to see her in 
the morning or when I come back to her from anywhere.  She also gives soft 
little nickers when I walk past her as I'm going about my work and she is 
standing tied.  She will also whinny to call me if she thinks it's time for 
her feed and she hears me getting it ready.  But she doesn't use whinnying 
as a way of alerting to anything.  She does like to show me steps and curbs 
by tapping them with her hoof.  And she touches construction tape or chains 
across driveways and the like with her nose to show me just where they are.

Best,
Ann

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steven Johnson" <blinddog3 at charter.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 6:18 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Dogs VS. Horses


> Hi Ann,
> You made a reference to barking.  Does she whinny?  If so, does she use 
> this
> to alert you of anything?  BTW, great dialogue here with your horse.
>
> Thanks,
> Steve
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Ann Edie
> Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 11:19 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Dogs VS. Horses
>
> Hi, Larry,
>
> The socialization for miniature horses is similar to that for dogs, I 
> guess.
>
> They don't chew up your shoes, but they do have to learn that your house
> plants are not meant as conveniently-located snacks.  They do need to be
> house trained and to learn that counter surfing is not permitted.  They 
> have
>
> to be taught not to eat the cat's food or the dog's food, and to play 
> nicely
>
> with the pet dog or cat.  They also have to learn to just chill out when 
> you
>
> are busy and not to always be the center of attention.  Then they need to 
> be
>
> exposed to all sorts of people and places, noises and activities, 
> vehicles,
> stores, parades, construction sites, etc., so they will take all of these 
> in
>
> their stride later as working horses.  And some of the time spent on baby
> socialization is just a matter of waiting for the baby to grow up to an 
> age
> where you would want them to become a full-time working animal.  We didn't
> want to put Panda to work full-time until she was about 2 and a half years
> old, although she was quite mature and ready to go much sooner.
>
> Panda doesn't run through the house, but she does like to walk around from
> the kitchen, down the hallway to the front door, turn left into the living
> room, left again into the dining room, and then left back into the 
> kitchen.
> She also likes to roll on the living room carpet to get a good back 
> scratch
> and to take a nap on the family room rug.  She goes to the door to greet
> guests when the doorbell rings, but she doesn't bark or jump up on people,
> so it is much more relaxed a greeting than with most puppies.
>
> Since I had dogs before getting Panda, I had a lot of dog toys around the
> house, and Panda adopted some of them for her own.  She doesn't gnaw on
> nylabones or natural bones, of course.  Her favorite game is fetching and
> bringing back thrown objects, and her favorite objects to fetch are a 
> canvas
>
> and rubber frisbee and some soft squeaky toys.  Minnies cannot open their
> mouths as wide as dogs do, so picking up a ball is difficult for them 
> unless
>
> the ball has handles as some of the dog toys do.  Just as I did with my
> dogs, I taught Panda to bring the object all the way back and to put it
> right into my hand, rather than to drop it at my feet or to play 
> keep-away,
> as some dogs do.  If she doesn't bring the toy all the way back to my 
> hand,
> the game's over.
>
> Panda has made up some original games of her own, which she has taught me 
> to
>
> play with her.  One of these is called "Panda Catch."  This is a game 
> played
>
> with 2 or more people and Panda in a large indoor or fenced outdoor area.
> All the people have to do is spread out and stand around near the 
> perimeter
> of the space with a few pellets of grain in their pockets.  Panda will run
> across the space, around a person, and come into perfect heel position at
> their left side, at which point the person makes a clicking sound and 
> hands
> Panda a tiny bit of grain as her reward.  Then she tears off toward 
> another
> person and makes a tight little circle around that person to come into 
> heel
> position once again, to get her click and treat.  The game can be made 
> more
> exciting by having the people in motion so that Panda has to work harder 
> to
> get into position.  It is also interesting to have each person have a
> different type of treat, and to see whether Panda starts to favor one 
> person
>
> over another on the basis of which treat they have.  This game is 
> especially
>
> good for giving Panda exercise in bad weather when it is difficult to get
> out on long walks.
>
> Another of Panda's games I call "Show Me."  This is a game where we enter 
> a
> room or outdoor area and I just put my hand on Panda's withers or rump and
> she starts walking around the space.  She will stop and point out to me 
> any
> feature of the room or space that she thinks I might be interested in
> knowing about, such as a door, a gate, a staircase, a chair, a desk, a
> ladder, a traffic cone, a construction tape or barrier.  And, of course,
> each time she stops, I reach out and touch the object, click and give her 
> a
> treat, and tell her, "Thank you for showing me the ...."  A variation of
> this game is one where I ask her to find specific objects around the 
> space,
> like, "Find the steps" or "Find the water," and I click and give her a 
> treat
>
> when she takes me to that object.
>
> In confined places, like when we're riding in the car, we play a game 
> called
>
> "Touch", where I hold out my hand in a particular position and say, "Nose,
> touch" or "Chin, touch" or "shoulder, touch", and Panda moves to place
> whatever body part I mentioned into or against my hand.  She knows which
> body part I want both from the verbal cue and from the position of my 
> hand.
> Another game that she likes to play in the car is to pick up the leash if 
> I
> let it drop to the floor and hand it to me, also for a click and treat.
>
> For those of you who might be concerned that Panda is being fed 
> continuously
>
> and might be at risk for becoming obese, let me asure you that this is not
> the case.  The tiny bits of grain that she gets throughout the day are a
> measured part of her day's ration, and since horses are grazing animals, 
> it
> is actually healthier for her to get many tiny bites of food spread out
> throughout the day than it is for her to have a big grain meal once or 
> twice
>
> a day.
>
> Best,
> Ann
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Larry D. Keeler" <lkeeler at comcast.net>
> To: "doggie" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, August 14, 2011 10:44 PM
> Subject: [nagdu] Dogs VS. Horses
>
>
>> Ann is the socialization a lot different than with dogs?  I would imagine
>> that horses don't chew up your shoes!  What kind of toys do they use and
>> do they run through the house like dogs do?
>> Intelligence is always claimed but rarely proven!
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>
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