[nagdu] walking in to objects

Sun Apr 15 20:11:01 UTC 2012

Julie,

Oh, yes! Now I remember how wonderful noisy trash cans are for teaching 
clearance! /lol/ I can't remember what other noisy obstacles I used 
around the neighborhood. Some kids conveniently left a bicycle lying 
across the sidewalk, so that got noisy, too as I somehow managed to get 
untangled from it without falling and breaking anything. As I recall, 
Mitzi was quite startled, but she learned to clear unexpected things. I 
may have also inadvertently yanked on her in the process of balancing... 
Anyway, she got the message. Paper bags make noise, too... In another 
place, somebody conveniently left one that was blowing and crackling a 
bit for us to use to work on. Isn't it great of people to litter so 
conveniently? /lol/

I think the great thing about trash cans is that the noise itself is a 
form of negative reinforcement that is naturally occurring. So you're 
not correcting the dog, but the dog is encouraged to avoid having that 
noise happen again.

And I just now remembered a nifty exercise that I heard about. I would 
do it in the playgrounds about our local haunts, using the swing set or 
other predictable obstacles. I would set up a pole weave, having Mitzi 
clear one pole to the left and the next to the right and so on. Then we 
go back the other way, then the first way again until she got it 
perfect. /lol/ She hates boredom and repetition, so she quickly 
developed good clearance without my having to fuss a lot. Since I could 
predict where the obstacles were, I could loosen up a little and let her 
learn with a reasonable assumption that I wouldn't get hurt. After a 
while, we would just do one walk through for practice, and then I would 
praise and play with her and stuff. So she came to like whizzing through 
the poles slick as a whistle. And she came to like tricky naturally 
occurring obstacle courses in the real working world, so that was cool. 
She still does. /grin/

The swings themselves can be good because you can shove them into wild 
motion if you pass too close.

If there is a handy agility course you can use off leash or in harness, 
either one, that would be nifty. I didn't have one conveniently close, 
though, so I used what was available. It was actually pretty fun. /grin/ 
We still like to play on the slides and some of the climbing stuff 
together. Until a mom and kids come along, then I wonder if they think 
I'm nuts. Oh, well! We have fun until we clear out to let the kiddies 
play on the kiddy stuff. /grin/

Tami

On 04/15/2012 05:43 AM, Julie J. wrote:
> Hannah,
>
> Can you set up obstacles to practice going around?  When I was 
> training both Belle and Monty I did this.  I picked things like an 
> empty plastic trash can, a jacket dropped on the sidewalk, or a trash 
> bag full of leaves.  I'd place them so I would know where they were 
> and could praise Monty for going around.  If he didn't the object was 
> the sort that I wouldn't be injured by running into it.  Although the 
> empty trash can does make a load of noise, which goes a long way in 
> reinforcing the concept to the dog.
>
> If the underlying problem is simply that she needs more practice or 
> more training this should help.  If the problem is something more 
> serious this approach probably won't make any difference.
>
> All my best,
> Julie
> On 4/14/2012 7:52 PM, Hannah Chadwick wrote:
>> Nicole,
>> My trainer usually yells at me to "stop" before Princess walks me in to
>> something. The rest of the people who have been telling me to "give 
>> it more
>> time" has not seen her do it though.
>> It seems like it's been happening every couple of weeks or so 
>> although it's
>> still pretty random.
>> We are bonding super well, and I know we will become a great team, 
>> however
>> I'm not sure what to do at this point because I don't know if this 
>> will ever
>> improve since the corrections don't seem to matter to her, and I 
>> don't want
>> to get seriously hurt at some point.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>> Behalf
>> Of Nicole B. Torcolini at Home
>> Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2012 8:35 AM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] walking in to objects
>>
>> Has this trainer seen Princess bump you into things? Have any of the 
>> people
>> who keep telling you to give it time seen Princess bump you into 
>> things? Is
>> this a somewhat predictable behavior, or does it just happen at random?
>>
>> Nicole
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Hannah Chadwick"<sparklylicious at gmail.com>
>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2012 8:13 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] walking in to objects
>>
>>
>>> Rhonda,
>>> I'm not sure that can happen because I'm so far from Ohio, but they 
>>> might
>>> let me go back to training. As I've mentioned before, I am working 
>>> with a
>>> professional dog trainer right now and I'm not sure what else a trainer
>>> from
>>> Pilot could do.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>>> Behalf
>>> Of rhonda cruz
>>> Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2012 8:05 AM
>>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] walking in to objects
>>>
>>> i think you should ask or a trainer. to come out, and work with you,
>>> hanna,
>>>
>>> On Apr 14, 2012, at 7:35 AM, Hannah Chadwick wrote:
>>>
>>>> Juanita,
>>>> It only happened a couple of times during training. I believe that is
>>>> mostly due to walking the same rout over and over again when the dogs
>>>> were being trained. However, I want to travel and I can't have a dog
>>>> that will walk me in to things every new place I go.
>>>> Hugs, Hannah
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>>> Behalf Of Juanita Herrera
>>>> Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 11:19 PM
>>>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] walking in to objects
>>>>
>>>> Hi Hannah,
>>>> When I first got Anise, she had trouble clearing the right side so at
>>>> first I'd brush up against things, but correcting her firmly helped a
>>>> lot. Also, I only had Anise for 9 days before I went home. My
>>>> instructor said that if she didn't get better at clearing the right
>>>> side they would not send her home with me. I was terrified I might
>>>> have to go back to class. However, by the fifth day my instructor and
>>>> I began to notice significant improvement. They told me that they were
>>>> afraid I wasn't going to be able to take her home, but thankfully it
>>>> all worked out. My question is, if this was occurring during training,
>>>> why did they send her home? I mean, this can turn into a dangerous
>>> situation, and your life can be at potential risk.
>>>> Take Care,
>>>> Juanita
>>>>
>>>> On 4/13/12, Hannah Chadwick<sparklylicious at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>>> I highly doubt it. I have a mobility instructor here who used to be a
>>>>> guide dog trainer for over 10 years. He's suggested a few things and
>>>>> told me, "it'll take time". I feel like running in to things should
>>>>> not be occurring every couple of weeks...
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>>>> Behalf Of Larry D. Keeler
>>>>> Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 7:19 PM
>>>>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>>>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] walking in to objects
>>>>>
>>>>> Can Pilot send a trainer out there?
>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>> From: "Hannah Chadwick"<sparklylicious at gmail.com>
>>>>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog 
>>>>> Users'"
>>>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>>>> Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 8:59 PM
>>>>> Subject: [nagdu] walking in to objects
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hey all,
>>>>>> I know that bonding can take up to a year, but I also know that
>>>>>> Princess shouldn't be walking me in to things. I honestly don't know
>>>>>> what to do any more because I don't feel like correcting her is
>>>>>> enough and that after a while she forgets about it altogether.
>>>>>> Today I went to visit the University of Santa Cruz and we went on a
>>> tour.
>>>>>> Princess for some reason walked me in to a pole and as usually I
>>>>>> corrected her. This has occurred a few times since I last posted
>>>>>> about it, and it's getting more difficult for me to trust her. I
>>>>>> don't feel safe walking at night or in the dark now, and it's a
>>>>>> horrible
>>>> feeling.
>>>>>> Any thoughts, suggestions, advice?
>>>>>> Best, Hannah
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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