[nagdu] update on my guide dogs, number three

Sun Apr 29 14:18:01 UTC 2012

The message below is correct. Yes, Vaughn is a hard puller. If it was just
the fact that the pull was hard they would have given him to someone else.
The issue here is that the type of pull was a frantic out of control type of
pull. When the trainer had asked me to heal him, he was all over the place
not walking next to me. When he was working, he was pulling so hard that he
was  forcing me to use my entire body to Anker him. All of the usual
techniques for steadying him down were not working. The fact that close to
the end of the walk he refused to go down told me that we were losing total
control of the dog. I had both the trainer assigned to me as well as the
class manager and between the both of them they were not able to calm this
dog down told me that there was some serious issues. What broke my
confidence in the dog was the pull I had experienced. Even if TSE was able
to bring him under control again, would he stay under control when I went to
a new area? The frosting on this cake was that I was never able to see what
his true pace was. One day he would be slow, and the next he would be having
this crazy out of control pull. In the same route, I say all versions of
pulls everything from a nice firm pull to none at all where we crawled along
to the frantic excited pull he showed me at the start of class and in New
York. At least, this pull went away after a while at the beginning of class.
The deciding factor for returning the dog was that this just might be his
real pull. Believe me when I say he could not guide very well at this pull.
He was not crossing streets very well and was crossing at a saver angle
always to the write. My hope is that he will find a god home where he will
not have to deal with cities. TSE had indicated that they no longer trust
the dog for the same reason (not knowing how he will perform in a new area
or when under environmental strain.
-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
of Julie J.
Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2012 9:14 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] update on my guide dogs, number three

Lea,

Sometimes when a dog pulls really hard in harness it is because of 
nervous excitement, fear, distraction or some other problematic 
behavior.  sure some dogs pull hard because they are hard pullers and 
that kind of hard pulling is fine if you have a strong arm. *smile*  
However the nervous, agitated or fearful variety of pulling is 
problematic because of the associated behavior.  I think this is what 
Reinhardt experienced.  He mentioned the dog not guiding well.  Also the 
fact that TSE pulled the dog entirely would suggest to me that it was 
more than simply being a hard puller.

HTH
Julie

On 4/29/2012 7:53 AM, Lea williams wrote:
> I understand that the dog pulled to hard for you but maybe someone
> else likes a dog that pulls this hard?Is there some reason the school
> doesn't give the dog to someone else who would like the pull?
>
> On 4/29/12, Reinhard Stebner<raydar11011 at yahoo.com>  wrote:
>> The problem is that he would pull to hard and is not safe at his pull. On
>> top of his insane pull, he never showed a consistent pull while I was in
>> class. I had told TSE that I could not trust a dog that pulled like a
draft
>> horse.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf
>> Of Lea williams
>> Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2012 7:47 PM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] update on my guide dogs, number three
>>
>> can they not give him to someone else who would like to have a dog
>> that pulls more?
>>
>> On 4/28/12, Reinhard Stebner<raydar11011 at yahoo.com>  wrote:
>>> Good day to you.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> This message is being sent from the Washington D. C. area. Once again I
>>> have
>>> struck out with obtaining a guide dog. As all of you know, I was at TSE
>>> from
>>> 4/16/2012 until 5/3/2012 obtaining a guide dog named Vaughn. Well,
Vaughn
>>> is
>>> being retired due to incorrect guide work in a city environment. I went
>>> to
>>> New York city yesterday and it was very apparent that this dog was not
>>> going
>>> to be a guide for the city. He was pulling like a cart horse and failing
>> to
>>> guide correctly. He was very excited to be in the city and doing new
>>> things.
>>> I could not deal with this. I had my instructor as well as the senior
>>> instructor (class manager) there helping me deal with this dog. It  was
>>> very
>>> rough and I was quite raddled. I have not updated my blog because I
>>> wanted
>>> to wait until I went to the city before I wrote everything down. I am
>>> disappointed and wish this could have gone better. TSE is looking for a
>> new
>>> match and will contact me when one is available. I thought you would
like
>>> to
>>> know how this went for me. Hope all is well with all of you. Vaughn is
no
>>> longer a guide dog and will be taken out of the guide dog service pool.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nagdu mailing list
>>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> nagdu:
>>>
>>
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/leanicole1988%40gmail.com
>>
>> --
>>
>> Lea Williams
>>
>> Phone;
>> 704-732-4470
>> Skipe;
>> Lea.williams738
>> Facebook
>> http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001775297080
>> Twitter
>> http://twitter.com/LeaNicole1988
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nagdu mailing list
>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nagdu:
>>
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/raydar11011%40yahoo.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nagdu mailing list
>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nagdu:
>>
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/leanicole1988%40gmail.com
>>
>

_______________________________________________
nagdu mailing list
nagdu at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/raydar11011%40yahoo.com