[nagdu] pet-proofing your dog

[solsticesinger]

Thanks for this, Jenine. I will work with hand targeting.

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jenine Stanley" <jeninems at wowway.com>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, January 03, 2011 8:08 PM
Subject: [nagdu] pet-proofing your dog


> These are just some  things I do to get my own dogs to ignore petting. 
> I'll
> start with an exercise we do at GDF called Meet and Greet. We do this 
> during
> class but encourage people to practice it often.
>
> Let's say you come up to someone with a dog and want to say hello. Both
> people make their dogs sit and stay. The first person comes forward and
> shakes hands with the second person then asks if he can pet the dog. The 
> dog
> must not break its sit/stay. If it does, the first person steps back and 
> the
> whole thing starts over again. Meanwhile, the first person's dog is 
> sitting
> and staying at the end of a long leash. The first person gives a short pet
> to the chest or shoulder of the dog and goes back to his dog. The second
> person then repeats the exercise. The key here is not to step in front of
> your dog. It teaches the dog that the important interaction is between the
> humans, not with it.
>
> If and when I do allow petting, my dog may not go to the person. My dog 
> must
> sit or stand near me and not move toward the petting. I've done a quick 
> 180
> turn to my right at times to get my dog's attention if he or she was
> straying too far and not listening to me.
>
> With Swap, who can be pretty social, I have used hand targeting to get his
> attention back on me. If he is looking hard and wagging at someone, I'll
> make a fist with my right hand and place it just to the right of my right
> thigh. I will then ask him to "Find it." This means to touch my fist.
> Sometimes there are treats that magically appear from the fist.
>
> The other thing to do, and I know this sounds really old school, is to
> practice obedience. Do it where there are distractions. The more you do 
> it,
> with most dogs anyway, the more they will understand what's expected.
>
> I've had to use the gentle leader on Swap for initial encounters such as
> first days at conventions, where he's just over stimulated and wants to
> sniff everyone and everything. That does help and I can usually take it 
> off
> after that first day.
>
> Swap has it figured out though. He has a move we call his bucking Bronco.
> When he sees someone he likes, person or dog, he will stand still and 
> jump,
> first the front feet go up then the back feet go up while the front goes
> down. He will stay in the same place by my side doing this until whoever
> comes over to pet or sniff him. He's not a small dog so though it's kind 
> of
> cute how he figured out that he can't move toward the distraction, it can
> get a little wild at times.
>
> If you do use the hand target, start out with really high value treats, 
> like
> liver or lamb lung or cheese. You can use the hand targeting for so many
> things but redirecting attention is a great one.
>
> Jenine Stanley
> jeninems at wowway.com
>
>
>
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