[nagdu] Stress Issues

Tami Kinney tamara.8024 at comcast.net
Wed Sep 7 19:28:18 UTC 2011 

Steve,

Well, you are right, of course, and I agree with you that we all have a
great influence on our dogs. As they do on us. /smile/So the proverb
"Know thyself" is the foundation of building a good team with any given
guide dog. Don't know if there's a proverb that says "know thy dog," but
I would consider that the second step. This is sometimes much easier
said than done, so that the evolution of a partnership over time then
has some fairly frustrating periods while both sides try to figure it
out. Of course, the dog doesn't need no fancy proverbs to get it. It's
just a dog and it assumes we're just us, and so why do we have to
overcomplicate things the way we do? /lol/ 

So, when we have an issue to solve with one f our guides, large or
small, we do need to look at ourselves. At the same time, I do try to
remember when talking -- or writing -- to a new guide dog handler with a
still pretty new dog, that it's a learning process for both of them.
Well, and I have to be careful not to project my assumptions and
expectations onto them. It's a safe bet there are plenty of people in
the new guide dog handler's life who are doing that with gusto. Whether
they have any business sticking their nose in or not! Anyway, for
myself, I try to find a balance between trying to assist the handler
without adding to the "blame the handler" game. It's a pretty fine line.
Heck, I can't even find the balance always, when I'm the handler I'm
talking to. /lol/ Honestly, diagnosing myself is the first step toward
any problem solving -- as I perceive it, anyway -- with my dog... So I
can waste a lot of time trying to figure out what's wrong with me
without ever noticing the very obvious solution to what is really a very
simple minor problem until somebody hits me over the head with it.
That's just the kinda girl I am, I guess. /grin/

Also, our problem is that the handler is sort of like a kid... Who would
rather play with her fun puppy than remember manners and etiquette and
good working practices. Fortunately, my guide has gotten pretty good at
correcting me when I forget that if I don't pay attention, I'm going to
get hurt, so that's a good thing. /lol/

So for the past week or a little more, I've been trying to figure out a
good way to go re-work Mitzi on kitty distractions, since the sudden
appearance of a kitten out of a backpack on the sidewalk is clearly too
exciting for her... So as I remember back to the incident of the kitty
in questions, it occurs to me that I seem to remember nearly tripping
over the dog to get to love on the kitten first... I'm exaggerating a
bit there, but I did want to get my hands the kitten! Like I say,
sometimes it's the handler who is like a kid. /grin/ Anyway, my first
step then in preventing  a major distraction next time one just pops
into being someplace kittens are completely unexpected, would be to
train myself in kitten distractions. If I'm not stopping myself to go
pet the kitten, I will be much  more able to help my guide dog bypass
the kitten in the first place. It appears from experience that once I
give into kitten temptation at the same instant as my dog does, we are
both lost.  It has also become very apparent to me that I can't manage
to have nice normal problems like everybody else. Nope! I have to
involve kittens. What's a girl to do? /grin/

Tami





On Tue, 2011-09-06 at 18:45 -0500, Steven Johnson wrote: 
> Hi Tami,
> I feel that to some degree, dogs are like children and they are products of
> our environment. Please don't mistake my posts for pointing any fingers at
> anyone, but it is just an observation that does need to be considered.
> Thanks,
> 
> Steve
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Tami Kinney
> Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2011 9:55 AM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Stress Issues
> 
> Steve,
> 
> Yeah, and you don't always know what it is you're doing to create the
> common behaviors, do you? /smile/
> 
> Weirdest thing. When I was trying to figure out this strange creature
> that was inhabiting my apartment somehow when I'd thought I was getting
> a dawg, I did a lot of observing when I was interacting with the
> creature and watched the small behavioral changes as time went by. Then,
> of course, starting on early training and the ground work for guide dog
> training, I realized that it was all going be very simple because she
> was so much like the sort of animal I prefer and always seem to get by
> luck... That reminds of me of Sapphire, the wonderful cremello
> Arab/Quarter Horse cross of my youth, of Smoky, the colt I trained from
> the ground up or... She does that just like my Musket kitty, and now
> that I think about it... Certainly, she's a whole lot Like Spur, my
> Arabian that I had to give up after we moved to Bend. He was 14 when I
> got him, so I didn't have any early influence at all, and I picked him
> out because of his personality and training... Never get an Arabian with
> personality, BTW! The silly things have plenty of personality as it is
> is, thank you. If one is noteworthy for having personality, you're going
> to have a lot of entertainment dealing with that when you'd rather just
> go for a nice ride. /lol/ But fairly early on, I noticed my poodle pup
> messing with me in exactly the same way he would. Good grief! How do
> these things happen to  me? And why to they make me so happy?
> 
> So, after all those years of just assuming that that was how my animals
> were, whether I picked them out or just ended up with them -- with
> Mitzi, it's a combo of both - are so much alike even across species. Oh.
> Even way back when I was a kid. So I wonder what it is I do? I've paid
> more attention with Mitzi and then with Daisy around the house out here,
> and I still don't know what really changes an animal's attitude and
> behavior. Some of the training techniques I use consciously have an
> impact on behavior, of course. But I still don't know what I do to end
> up with such similar "native" behaviors in the animals I live and spend
> a lot of time with. Well, I was trained from before I was walking by a
> Persian cat and then by a border collie on the ranch, so I guess they
> trained me up right. /smile/ 
> 
> Anyway, that is not helpful for dealing with problem behaviors, but
> definitely if one can track down what they're doing that may be
> affecting their dog (or cat or turtle or...), then that's very helpful
> for modifying it to achieve different results if that's what you need.
> Dogs, especially, are such social animals that they read us far better
> than we do them. They're also very gracious the way they let us go
> around talking about how much smarter we are than them. /lol/
> 
> Tami 
> 
> On Mon, 2011-09-05 at 12:10 -0500, Steven Johnson wrote: 
> > A good friend of mine pointed out to me after I made a comment how all of
> my
> > dogs had similar habits.  They simply said, in a question, and what is the
> > common denominator?  This made me think very closely to what I was doing
> > right and those things I let slide.  I also know of others who have had a
> > number of dogs in a short period of time, and I always simply ask this
> > question.  So, what is the common denominator?
> > 
> > Steve
> > 
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> > Of Cindy Ray
> > Sent: Monday, September 05, 2011 10:44 AM
> > To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> > Subject: Re: [nagdu] Stress Issues
> > 
> > Wow! I don't think "I guess this dog just can't be an off leash dog" is
> > really an acceptable answer. I have had a batch of dogs and several
> > problems, but I never had one that had to always be tied, leashed, or
> > crated. Cindy
> > 
> > On Sep 5, 2011, at 10:39 AM, Lora wrote:
> > 
> > > My school gave me lots of methods that I tried to get this dog to
> > > listen of leash and finally the school was like well I guess this dog
> > > can't be an off leash dog.
> > > 
> > > On 9/5/11, Cindy Ray <cindyray at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >> I can't remember if you have spoken to the school about this. You
> > shouldn't
> > >> have lots of off leash problems with him at this point. If it was
> stress
> > >> though, wouldn't his guiding be affected, too? I don't really know. I
> had
> > a
> > >> dog once that the vet said was stress drinking, but she was a good
> > working
> > >> dog. I hope someone can help you more than I can apparently help.
> > >> 
> > >> CL
> > >> 
> > >> On Sep 5, 2011, at 10:25 AM, Lora wrote:
> > >> 
> > >>> I've had him for about a year. I know I have a very busy lifestyle.
> > >>> His guide work is amazing and I like him as a dog. His off leash
> > >>> issues are about the only issue. I've had previous dogs that have had
> > >>> lots of problems.
> > >>> 
> > >>> On 9/5/11, Cindy Ray <cindyray at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >>>> I can't remember how long you have had this dog. Weren't you having
> > >>>> trouble
> > >>>> with him from the time you got him? I can't remember for sure. I
> can't
> > >>>> remember where he came from either, though in the end that wouldn't
> > >>>> matter.
> > >>>> Why do you think he has so much stress in his life?
> > >>>> 
> > >>>> Cindy
> > >>>> 
> > >>>> On Sep 5, 2011, at 10:08 AM, Lora wrote:
> > >>>> 
> > >>>>> Hello List:
> > >>>>> I know we've probably had this discussion before but I would
> > >>>>> appreciate it if we could have it again. My dog is loosing a lot of
> > >>>>> hair and I think it is due to stress since he is on a good diet. I
> > >>>>> can't trust him off leash since he doesn't listen at all. I have
> tried
> > >>>>> letting him play on a flexilead but he won't run around. I play with
> > >>>>> him tug of war and other games like that but I don't think he's
> > >>>>> getting enough stress out of his life. Do you have any suggestions?
> > >>>>> Thank You.
> > >>>>> 
> > >>>>> --
> > >>>>> Lora
> > >>>>> 
> > >>>>> _______________________________________________
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> > >>>> 
> > >>>> 
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> > >>> 
> > >>> --
> > >>> Lora
> > >>> 
> > >>> _______________________________________________
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> > >> 
> > >> 
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> > > 
> > > 
> > > -- 
> > > Lora
> > > 
> > > _______________________________________________
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