[nagdu] Guide dog Schools

Fri Jul 15 15:19:35 UTC 2011

Well, naturally it's not 100 percent accurate. I think Wayne mentioned
that it was a service dog trainer who told him that rule, and it is more
true for the trainer of any animal than for an end user. Being both
trainer and end user, I can trace about 99 percent of Mitzi's mistakes
straight back to a single person. L'il ol' me. With the majority of
guide dogs, the raiser passes on the sum total of his/her influence on
the individual dog to the trainer, who then passes the  new sum total on
to the handler, who then gets to add her/his individual influence. So by
then it's hard to tell if some fault in the dog is just the dog being a
bonehead for some reason or if it was the raiser's fault or the
trainer's fault or the handler's... Who knows? By that time, it doesn't
matter, really, since the problem is there to be solved no matter what. 

As a trainer, I appreciate rules like that because they are always a
good reminder of where the responsibility lies in the relationship
between me and whatever critter I happen to be training. It does carry
over, for me at least, into my working relationship with Mitzi, since I
am still the trainer who needs to come out and do refresher work and
give instruction to the handler to keep her on the straight and narrow,
etc. Well, Mitzi's pretty good at using operant conditioning
poodle-style to keep me from getting too far out of line.  /lol/ 

Another such "truism" I like and have been known to remind myself of
firmly with both Mitzi and Daisy is this one: Praise the dog; beat the
trainer. /lol/ I use that one to remind myself to be patient when I
would really like to do something about whichever dog is making me crazy
today. It's up to me to figure out how to modify the behavior on the
theory that I am smarter than the dogs... I have some serious questions
about that assumption since some of our games around the house and yard
feel a lot like wars of escalation as we all learn new ways to outsmart
each other. /lol/ Keeps me from getting bored, I guess. 

Tami

On Tue, 2011-07-12 at 18:39 +0000, PICKRELL, REBECCA M (TASC) wrote: 
> Doesn't that statement excuse dogs that are poorly trained? Serious question, it sounds very close to placing the blame for a dog's bad behavior on the handler when sometimes, it's all the dog's issue.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Wayne Merritt
> Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2011 2:28 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Guide dog Schools
> 
> At The Seeing Eye, they recommend slowly introducing the dog to being
> left alone, such as leaving for a few minutes, then for an hour, then
> for several hours, and so forth. They definitely don't recommend to
> walk out and leave them in a strange house the first time you leave
> the dog alone. As you say though, each dog/team is different. The
> first time I left my current guide at my parent's house, I had
> forgotten about this gradual leaving the dog home thing. I went to
> dinner with a friend and was gone for several hours. The next day, I
> asked my folks how my doggy did, and was told that the dog had some
> anxiety about being left at home. They did say that when they put her
> leash on her that she was better, but when I heard about her anxiety,
> I also made a mental note not to leave her alone for several hours the
> first time she was in a new place. That was operator error on my part
> and not her fault. Funny, that last statement brings to mind a phrase
> I had heard some time ago from a service dog trainer which can be
> applied to our guides. It went something like, "If something happens
> an the dog misbehaves, more than likely it's your fault."
> 
> Wayne
> 
> On 7/12/11, PICKRELL, REBECCA M (TASC) <REBECCA.PICKRELL at tasc.com> wrote:
> > I don't know the duration schools say for leaving a dog shortly after coming
> > home, but I left my dog for an evening to go to an Indigo Girls concert. The
> > dog was fine.
> > I say this because you don't want to sell yourself short of fun stuff to do,
> > and because our dogs will be fine. I was gone for a night.
> > Also, it was one of those things where me not going would have been more
> > upsetting then staying home with my dog.
> > Also, if you do have to travel, your dog will adjust. That's what they do.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> > Of Julie McGinnity
> > Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 3:21 PM
> > To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> > Subject: Re: [nagdu] Guide dog Schools
> >
> > Hi Brianna.
> >
> > I went for my first dog when I was still in high school, so I was
> > thinking about the same things you seem to be now.  I went to
> > GEB(Guiding Eyes for the blind).  I had a great experience.  I worked
> > well with the trainers, even though I was young and worried about
> > everything.  Even if you would like a shorter program, I just would
> > like to remind you that all schools recommend that you don't travel
> > with your dog or leave your dog alone to take a trip for the first few
> > months.  Also, a lot of your first Summer with that dog will be full
> > of that dog.  You and your dog will be forming a bond, which is quite
> > magical, but it does take time and energy.
> >
> > If you have any questions about Guide dogs, dog schools, or Guiding
> > Eyes, feel free to email me off list.
> >
> > Now I have to get my own little dog out from under a bed!  :)
> >
> > On 7/11/11, Cindy Ray <cindyray at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Which school of those do you think you would like?
> >>
> >>
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> >
> >
> > --
> > Julie McG
> >  Lindbergh High School class of 2009, participating member in Opera
> > Theater's Artist in Training Program, and proud graduate of Guiding
> > Eyes for the Blind
> >
> > "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
> > everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
> > life."
> > John 3:16
> >
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> 
> 