[nagdu] ouch, that hurt... is this normal?

[GARY STEEVES]

Hi Hana:

Reflecting back on Bogart and my early days, he did run me into a couple of things. One was a bench at a bus stop that we were passing. Caught it right in the knee. Boy that really hurt. I had to correct him but then I had to let it go and trust him not to do that again which he hasn't. The other thing he caught was the edge of a building because it was raining so he was hugging the buildings where there was less rain. Again, I got it in the knee. I corrected him, pointed out what he hit, corrected him and then off we went (with me limping a bit). Since then I can't recall anything he has tun me into that wasn't partially my fault.

Poodles are easily distracted. More than labs. Often I have to get Bogart's attention back on  guiding. He does a great job but has to be verbally , and sometimes with leash corrections, pulled  bak into paying attention. His triggers are pigeons, other dogs and women who make contact.


The key thing to remember is to correct her but then you have to let it go and trust her totally again. It is the trust and the love that makes things work out for you and your dog. Make sure you do things that are fun when not guiding too. Poodles take longer to create that bond but once they have it, it is really solid.

Be patient, the thing one needs with poodles the most, and everything will work out. Your relationship is so young. In the first week or two I had bogart at home I did fairly easy routes. gradually as I felt us working good together I ramped up the difficulty to see how he would do. Generally he did well. We have our moments where one of us is out of sync but that is getting less and less a year and a half lster.

Have fun, trust and love and I think it will work out fine.

Gary

----- Original Message -----
From: Lisa belville <missktlab1217 at frontier.com>
Date: Friday, February 10, 2012 3:13 pm
Subject: Re: [nagdu] ouch, that hurt... is this normal?
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>

> Hi, Hannah,
> 
> This is all part of working with a very green dog.  <sigh>
> 
> Some of it could be distraction, as you say, but if she's 
> looking around it might not necessarily be that she's more 
> interested in her surroundings than guiding.  My dogs are 
> always looking at things, but not in a distracted way, it's more 
> like they're scoping out the path ahead so they know what the 
> next move should be, i.e. slow down, stop at a curb, 
> etc.    My first dog even did the classic looking 
> both ways when we would reach a street or drive way.
> 
> Also it could be that the poll was in a difficult place for your 
> dog to accurately gauge how much space she needed to guide you 
> and herself around it.  Dogs don't have the best depth 
> perception, so it does take a bit of practice for them to know 
> how much room is necessary to squeeze you and her through a path 
> she sees as being too narrow.
> 
> Katy slammed me into a poll during our first family 
> outing.  The poll was on my side and there was a rack of 
> shopping carts on Katy's side.  I gave her a verbal 
> correction, turned around, and did it again.  Now she just 
> slows down at narrow areas so I know that part of the job of 
> guiding is for me to determine if there's a narrow path for 
> us.  We still get practice at this because there's a street 
> with a very rounded curb and a phone poll in the place I need to 
> be to get directly lined up.  Katy will come to a crawl and 
> we work our way through it.
> 
> Don't get discouraged.  You guys haven't been together long 
> at all, and you're still learning each other's strengths and 
> weaknesses.
> Lisa
> 
> 
> 
> I'd like an order of ambition, & a side of focus, and a large 
> coffee. And could you super size that please? It really needs to 
> last for the rest of the day.
> Lisa Belville
> missktlab1217 at frontier.com
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Hannah Chadwick" 
> <sparklylicious at suddenlink.net>To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the 
> National Association of Guide Dog Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2012 9:44 PM
> Subject: [nagdu] ouch, that hurt... is this normal?
> 
> 
> >Hi all,
> >So I took Princess for a walk around the Humboldt State 
> University track, a
> >place I don't go to often. We were working on going up and down steps
> >because she seems to have a difficult time stopping. After a 
> few tries she
> >got my point and of course I praised her. However, as we got to 
> the top, she
> >walked me in to a pole... she gets really curious about 
> everything and I
> >believe that's why she did not see the pole. Does this happen 
> with other
> >dogs? She is over 2-years-old, and is easily distracted, will 
> this change as
> >she gets older?
> >All the best, Hannah and Princess
> >
> >
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> 
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