[nagdu] Owner training

Tue Jan 24 20:19:43 UTC 2012

Hi Julie,
I appreciate your sharing your experience and insight on owner-training to 
us all.  Even though I'm a third-time program-trainer, I'm still always 
interested in different methods and systems one puts in place to ensure a 
most successful partnership.  So, thanks for sharing.
Best,
Nat and Liam Joshua

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie J." <julielj at neb.rr.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2012 9:57 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Owner training

> Robert,
>
> You are too funny!  We have talked about owner training fairly extensively 
> on this list, but not in some time.  I'm answering on list because usually 
> when someone asks me to write off list about owner training, there are 
> several other people requesting that I share my thoughts on list.  So here 
> goes!
>
> 1. In regard to selecting a dog...you are right the larger schools do have 
> multiple dogs to choose from when matching you, but the smaller ones do 
> not always.  Choosing a dog to begin the owner training process is the 
> most difficult part of the whole thing.  I've started with older puppies 
> for my last two guides.  Their temperament is fairly well established and 
> you mostly get what you see.  With a young puppy you won't know exactly 
> what he/she will turn out like until months later.  The best advice I can 
> give here is to choose a breeder wisely, get in lots of socialization and 
> have a back up plan if it doesn't work out.  Actually the back up plan 
> isn't just for puppies.
>
> 2.  Reasons for owner training...these have changed a bit over the years 
> for me, but the main reason that has never changed is that I just plain 
> love to do it.  I like training dogs.  I enjoy seeing a young clueless dog 
> slowly metamorphose into a competent guide dog.  I find it mentally 
> challenging and extremely enjoyable.
>
> Other reasons I like to owner train include: complete ownership, the 
> ability to choose equipment, the ability to choose what food to feed, the 
> ability to obtain veterinary care as I feel appropriate, no need to 
> complete any yearly paperwork, no need to go to doctor's appointments that 
> I don't need so I can fill out applications, no need to take off a month 
> of work and family life, no need to stress about living with strangers for 
> a month, and a huge sense of accomplishment for a job well done when the 
> dog guides me around an obstacle for the first or even the 471st time.
>
> Disadvantages for me...there is no trainer to call if I run into a snag. 
> It can be expensive. There are no guarantees of success. It's a load of 
> time invested. It can be emotionally difficult at times. I have to 
> advocate for myself, always.  Sometimes other guide dog handlers and 
> service dog users can be quite unpleasant about owner training.  And it's 
> a lot of work.
>
> 3.  Pace and pull...I believe that pace and pull are partly a product of 
> the dog's individuality and part training.   Again I've started with older 
> puppies so I feel I could gauge at least pace pretty well.  I prefer a 
> strong enough pull to know there is a dog in the harness, but not so much 
> that I'm being dragged down the street.  In my experience dog's naturally 
> pull and it is mostly a process of getting that pull down to the level 
> that is comfortable.  I used to walk very fast and so picked an athletic 
> dog that could keep up.  Now since I've broken my foot, Monty and I are 
> having to  learn to work at a slower pace.  It's a process, but we are 
> getting there.
>
> 4.  Training theory and approaches...my best advice here is to find a 
> method that resonates with you.  I was originally taught dog training way 
> back in the day with the very harsh correction methods.  Those methods 
> pretty much flopped with Belle so I had to learn a new way of working with 
> her.  I learned about clicker training and used it with a lot of success. 
> Now I use a variety of techniques depending on the situation, the dog and 
> what will work best.  I lean toward a more positive approach, meaning 
> clicker or operant conditioning.  Especially in the early stages of 
> training I give the dog the benefit of my doubt.  Generally I will assume 
> a mistake by the dog means that I haven't trained that skill to the level 
> I was asking the dog to perform.  We back up and practice more in lower 
> distraction places, less complicated situations or break the task down 
> into smaller pieces so the dog can be successful.  Later when I am 110% 
> sure the dog knows exactly what I'm asking him to do and is blatantly 
> choosing not to do it and a verbal reminder has had no effect, I will use 
> corrections.
>
> All that is just me though.  No training method is going to be successful 
> if the trainer doesn't believe in it, doesn't use it correctly or isn't 
> consistent.  I also think that one way of training doesn't fit every dog. 
> I guess that's another advantage of owner training.  If I try teaching a 
> skill one way and it doesn't work, that doesn't mean the dog fails.  It 
> means that I find a new way of presenting the information to the dog. 
> Belle required repetition to understand things.  With her it was practice 
> makes perfect.  With Monty if I do too many repetitions he starts thinking 
> there is something else he needs to do.  He'll start getting creative, 
> adding, elaborating or improvising.  For him 3 or 4 run throughs, then a 
> break to do something else works best.  He also generalizes scary fast.  I 
> had to be about 3 steps ahead of him or he'd make giant leaps of learning 
> in new directions that I wasn't prepared for.
>
> 5. sighted help...If you have people available to help you, sighted or 
> blind, it will be most useful.  Knowing what is coming up can be helpful 
> during the early stages of training.  In the beginning the dog won't be 
> guiding, you will actually be guiding him through what you want him to 
> learn.  A cane is useful too.  Safety is the main thing.  Whatever you 
> need to do to keep safe is the right thing.
>
> I'd say that I do about 98% of the training independently.  My son enjoys 
> setting up obstacle courses on the front sidewalk for me to work through. 
> I'd also have him help with early moving obstacles.  first he'd push the 
> wheeled trash can around.  Then we'd progress to skateboard, bike or 
> scooter.  Much later I had my husband drive a car to practice traffic 
> avoidance.  If you don't have sighted assistance, it can still be done.  I 
> know of owner trainers who do it this way.
>
> The second part of this question was about socialization and where to take 
> the dog...I did not take Monty to work with me until he was fully trained 
> and then some.   I did not purchase a vest that said puppy in training. 
> Again I was working with older puppies.  By the time I was absolutely 
> certain they weren't going to have an accident in a store and I had had 
> the dog long enough to know them well enough to gauge what socialization 
> was appropriate, I was starting the very beginning of harness work.  I put 
> the harness on and took them into businesses wearing it.  I did have a 
> patch that said "service dog in training" with Belle.  I lost it for a 
> while and didn't find it until after Monty was past that stage.  I am also 
> extremely conservative with taking dogs into public during training.  I 
> plan very carefully.  I do not take young dogs into public because I need 
> to buy something or run errands.  Each time I take a young dog into a 
> public place it is a specific training session with specific goals in 
> mind.  I frequently use dog friendly places for the majority of early 
> socialization, parks, outdoor festivals, farmers market, school 
> playgrounds, outside of stores, walks downtown, hardware stores etc.
>
> With Belle and Tia I worked  from home or was going to school.  My time 
> was very flexible around their schedule and training.  With Monty I worked 
> part time.  He was in his kennel while I was at work.  I have absolutely 
> no idea how you could owner train a dog while working full time with no 
> one at home to help.  Perhaps if you started with an adult dog and had an 
> employer who was agreeable to bringing a dog in training with you to work.
>
> 6.  When is the dog fully trained...for me it is when I stop questioning 
> myself every time I leave the house.  Have I taken the dog to this place 
> before?  Is he familiar with that type of situation?  How did he do last 
> time?  How long will I be gone?  Is he ready for this type of situation? 
> When I quit doing that and instinctively reach for the harness, then the 
> dog is fully trained.
>
> I hope that answers some of your questions.  I firmly believe that owner 
> training a guide dog is not  rocket science.  I think there are a lot of 
> blind people with the ability to do it.   The crucial factor is 
> commitment.  Belle took about a year and Monty a little longer to get from 
> adolescent to capable guide dog.  During that time I'd work every single 
> day on their education, rain or shine, arctic freeze or blistering heat, 
> we were working.   Not everyone has that amount of time or wants to devote 
> it to dog training.  I happen to find it extremely enjoyable.  I found it 
> no hardship to spend my free time training.  Actually the opposite is 
> true.  Now that Monty is a fully trained guide dog I find myself dreaming 
> up new things to teach him or the occasional daydream about getting 
> another dog.  I don't know if I will owner train again or not.  I know the 
> determining factor will be my available time and physical ability to do 
> the work and not the desire to train.   My heart will always be with owner 
> training.
>
> Anyway this has gotten extremely long.  I hope you find something useful 
> in there.  Please feel free to ask any questions or to talk about owner 
> training freely.
>
> Julie
>
>
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