[nagdu] update on my guide dogs, number three

Mon Apr 30 17:45:14 UTC 2012

Reinhard,

I'm sorry you had to return Vaughn, but it does sound like the safer 
decision for both of you. I do hope you next match will work out! And 
that Vaughn will find a home where he can be happy and loved without the 
demands of guide dog work in crazy human environments. /smile/ The fact 
that any dog at all can just work sanely and safely leading a blind 
person through the human environment is just plain incredible. Quite a 
few of them do, and even thrive on the challenge. But it is not a job 
for any dog! /smile/

Best for both of you in your future partnerships!

Tami

On 04/29/2012 07:18 AM, Reinhard Stebner wrote:
> 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.
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> --
>>>
>>> Lea Williams
>>>
>>> Phone;
>>> 704-732-4470
>>> Skipe;
>>> Lea.williams738
>>> Facebook
>>> http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001775297080
>>> Twitter
>>> http://twitter.com/LeaNicole1988
>>>
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