[nagdu] Fw: 12 hours from gdb visit.

[Katrin Andberg]

I come from the competition obedience world and I was taught that on a heel
you always start forward with your left foot so you don't leave the dog in
the dust and the dog can cue off your left leg/foot moving forward to move
with you on the heel forward.  So when I trained James to be my guide, I
would probe with the right foot so that I could forward on the left, since
that was my ingrained habit with dogs after years of competition heeling.
When I had my interviews with 2 guide dog programs, the instructors doing
the interviews both said that at their schools (GDF and Freedom) they had
their clients probe with the left and forward on the right since they found
that people who did the opposite (what I did with James) would tend to lurch
into the dog on the forward.  I never seemed to have that issue with James.
But once James retired after 8yrs and I went back to using a cane, I would
find myself probing with my left and forward on the right, probably because
my cane is in my right hand and I was taught that at curbs to bring the cane
across your body to your opposite foot, so when I started training Jess
that's what I taught her- probe with left, forward on right.  I don't much
think the dog cares in all reality though, they aren't stupid, and they pick
up nuances of human behavior incredibly quickly and well it seems.


Katrin

 

Katrin Andberg

 <mailto:katrin at maplewooddog.com> katrin at maplewooddog.com