[nagdu] Finding Certain Things

[Larry D. Keeler]

Yah, Holly is like that too!  She just loves learning that stuff!  Oh, by 
the way,, we went to a wrestling tournament today and with all of the noise 
and action, Holly was never noticed except for when I got up!  We were there 
for 12 hours and had to go an hour and a half all the way to Battle creek in 
the car.  So, we really were gone for about 15 hours total!  And my son did 
well!  Holly oloved all of the wrestlers and minded herself very well!  The 
only thing that made me laugh was it was dark this morning when we pick up 
the other team members.  We had to shuffle the car around some and a 
wrestler stepped over Holly and she braught her head upto see who was there. 
The guy just about flew out of the car!  He was not scared of dogs but Holly 
was unexpected and surprised him!  I told him if a dog like Holly could 
scare him what about another big tough wrestler like the ones we're going to 
chalolenge!  He and the other felolow broke out into hardy laughter.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tami Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2012 3:50 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Finding Certain Things


> Hannah,
>
> With poodle, it is too easy. /smile/ The ability to grasp words there is 
> at least as crazy as poodle people sound when they talk about how smart 
> their poodles are.
>
> So, with Mitzi, I simply taught her to target my hand using reward and 
> positive reinforcement. Well, I also named all of her toys, then ran out 
> of sensible names so we have some really oddly named toys.
>
> So, then when I was teaching her find as she moved into working, I could 
> touch something to show it to her, name it, and, well, that was that. 
> /lol/
>
> I would also praise her for showing me things, which encouraged her to 
> show me things. She likes it when I laugh and say how clever she is. So 
> then invisible crowds of admirers also laugh and say how clever she is. So 
> my work there is done. /lol/
>
> So, I guess the short form would be to show Princess the thing you want 
> her to find, name it, then gush, "Good find the trash, Princess! *Good* 
> find the trash!" Then laugh and fluff her topknot and tell her how clever 
> she is. Teehee.
>
> I also use clicker and treats, or just the click as a positive reward now 
> that Mitzi has the hang of it. I've gotten really lazy about finding 
> things on my own, so when we're traveling and orienting around, I just 
> note what she shows me and murmur good find the the whatever, so we both 
> know where it is. /lol/ Okay, I'm exaggerating my own passivity in the 
> matter, but I've discovered it's really great that we can just orient 
> together in a new area to find landmarks and places we will want to return 
> to. If she gets distracted and too interested in something I don't want 
> her to, I can just tell her leave it and forward or redirect her to 
> something positive, and that works, too. Usually, depending on how 
> wonderfully smelling something is. /lol/
>
> Tami
>
> On 01/28/2012 12:24 PM, Hannah Chadwick wrote:
>> Hey All,
>> I was just wondering what your experiences have been in terms of teaching
>> your dogs new commands such as finding things - an empty seat, trash 
>> cans,
>> doors, etc. I have heard that it is possible to teach your dog to find
>> certain things, and I'm definitely interested in doing that once I get
>> settled with my dog.
>> Cheers, Hannah
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/tamara.8024%40comcast.net
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/lkeeler%40comcast.net